Frozen Heart
by FeistyFrozenChick13
Summary: "So, what's your roomie like, Anna?" Flynn asked when I plopped down in the grass beside him. True to my earlier inquisition, that hill would definitely be a killer on my thighs when I eventually went back up for the night. As for the 'roomie...' Quiet. Cold. Dauntingly attractive... ElsAnna!college, non-incest
1. Welcome

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>There was a reason the girl was known as the <em>Ice Queen<em> around the school. It was something no one could exactly pinpoint, but it was there, underneath those extraordinary creulean colored eyes that would hypnotize all who dared to look, that fine silky hair that seemed to be forged of the gods themselves, and her gloriously, carefully constructed body that attracted both men and women by the time she reached puberty. There was an elegant air about her that had many others in a state of whispers, secret proclaimed love, and slight fear.

One could say that it was mainly because of her snappy, snark-y almost always irritated, attitude and most prominent, _stoicism _but nobody really knew _why _she was so closed off, so isolated most of the time. Many figured her to be a princess in commoner's clothing amongst men, which was why she seemed angry six days out of the week. Even so, she had gained the respect, hearts, and intimidation to whoever stood in her council. Also her nickname.

Rumors began to float around as the snow fell in spring, careful fingers pointed toward the Ice Queen's room, quiet tongues told of a surely made up story of how the goddess of the moon cursed the Queen's mother and vowed that her children would carry on the curse of snow and ice, lest someone come along that was able to love all faucets of her being.

Other Fairytales of the like formed and spread further while the girl became even more isolated than usual as suitors of both genders began to ask to court her, despite their young ages. She soon was rarely even seen leaving her room, all of her classwork had been delivered to her during the remainder of her high school years in the dorms.

At age seventeen, she eventually got accepted into one of the most regal, exceptional Universities of the country. A University that normally required a chaperon for the young ladies, but she refused to be lead around and spoken for by a person assigned to do so. Little did she know that if there wasn't an elder to speak for her, she'd have to move into the other dormitories that housed a total of fifteen girls each.

That didn't stop her from staying behind, after the other girls got paired off, in order to have words with the main woman about insisting she'd stay where she was originally assigned, saying that her parents failed to provide her with one because it was a unique system they weren't aware of. The Headmistress, oblivious to the girl's previous reputation, fought her on the subject but after religious refusion and a well thought out facade about not being aware of an escort from the girl, the Head finally relented, deciding to room her with another young girl that also didn't have a chaperon.

And I just happened to be that other person.

"Miss Michaels?" The older grey-haired woman called, making me stand up at attention. "You will room with Miss de Cordova."

"M-me?" I asked dumbly while hesitantly bringing my eyes to the so-called Miss de Cordova and instantly shrunk when she quietly scoffed at me, rolling her eyes in a bored manner. Despite her somewhat stuck-up attitude, she was actually very pretty. What with her pale blonde hair braided, hanging off her left shoulder with a royal blue headband adorned on her head, her equally royal blue waist coat and skirt. Her perfect frame, gorgeous face, icy-colored eyes, her entire attire made it seem like she was pure high collar and fancy as hell! _Um, i-intimidating much? _Looking down I saw that my own plain clothing paled in contrast. It made me pick self-consciously at my vest.

"Yes you." The old woman exasperated. "Do you see another person besides you? Another Miss Michaels?" She squawked and I had the insane urge to gesture to the pale blonde that stood gracefully by the window, but held my tongue, shaking my head as a light flush crossed my face.

"N-no Ma'am." I answered quietly.

"Excellent!" She then handed each of us each a key. "Room 305. Now be gone and the best of luck to the two of you. Be expectant of an assigned escort any day now since I gather you are both underage and it just wouldn't be fair to the others if you had free rein." _Say what now? A new escort? But-_ She immediately began shooing us out of the main hall, pushing me out of my thoughts and I nearly tripped over my bags when the pretty blonde shot me a 'get back' stare as she calmly walked past me, but instantly recovered in order to get my earlier thought across.

"Actually, I-I _do _have one. A chaperon, she just ended up in the hospital with a fractured wrist the day before I came here-" I tried to tell the Head after the other girl stopped to give her a semi-thank you nod and froze when I managed to get that bit of information out. She raised a brow at me while I suddenly brought my eyes to the tiled floor. _Well, it's true._

"Oh? What's her name then? I'll be sure to send her your way when she arrives and I'm sure she's good enough of a chaperon for the _both _of you." The Head looked delighted at this new discovery, but the other girl, not so much. I tried not to cast an apologetic eye to her as I adjusted the grip on my bags. Something told me I wouldn't get a good reaction from her no matter what I did.

"R-Romanov. Anastasia Romanov." I stated as firmly as I could, wanting nothing but to dump my stuff off in the room and flee to the safety and warm embraces of my friends before my escort eventually came to University. Why didn't I request to stay in the dorms, you ask?Simple; my father spent the majority of his life savings to get me here and he didn't want me hanging around with the riff-raff that was my circle of friends (despite the differences in our social statuses, I made a few acquaintances in high school and once they heard I was taking the entrance exam to North Mountain, they wasted no time in doing so too.)

Now, since my mother passed, while I was still entering high school, my father wanted nothing but the best for me after I graduated and I felt obligated to follow through with his notions in full-on respect. I knew my mother wanted the same for me so I studied harder than when I was taking a math test for that exam and thus, my awkward introduction amoungst the... more rich folk here.

Unlike the other girl (we had yet to learn each other's names), _we _were aware of the chaperon deal so my father thought it best to hire my former _babysitter _for the job. Anya gladly excepted, telling me in private that she couldn't wait to embarrass me in front of everyone in college. Of course I complained to my father, but I loved her too much to really mean anything I said in my rants and she knew, so that was that. Unfortunately, she just _had _to try to learn how to ride a bike a mere day before coming here. Said she wanted to save time 'shlupping' around campus while I was in class. _Cripes, woman!_

According to what my father heard and looked in to, there was only one real requirement for having an escort at North Mountain Private University. That was that the attending student had to be under eighteen. _Surrogate parent in younger form._ Having one, instantly branded the student with some class, thus, being allowed to stay in the more formal rooms on the top of the hill while other students stayed closer to the main campus. This was only if the student's family had the money to pay said escort until the student turned eighteen and was able to sign their own papers, would they qualify to be treated specially. So luckily, I'd only have to endure Anya's teasing for a short amount of time. Hopefully.

As for the uphill/downhill, to and from classes, march everyday...I would definitely be qualified for the Olympics in no time at all.

"Dually noted, child. Now if you don't mind, I'm late for tea." The Head all but shoved me the rest of the way out into the hall and as luck would have it, I tripped and stumbled _right _into Miss Cordova- _de _Cordova, who saw me coming and instantly jumped away from me like I had a disease before practically spriting off down the hall. Her retreating footsteps and the closing of the wooden doors behind me echoed throughout the large hall when I somehow managed to catch myself, push-up style, just in the nick of time lest I crack my head open on the cold floor.

After the force of my fall dispersed, I fell on my side and rolled on to my back with a huff while I opened my eyes to examine the high ceilings.

_Well, Anna...welcome to North Mountain University. _I thought bitterly with a quiet snort.

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><p>"So, what's your roomie like, Anna?" Flynn asked when I plopped down in the grass beside him. True to my earlier inquisition, that hill would definitely be a killer on my thighs when I eventually went back up for the night. As for the 'roomie...'<p>

_Quiet. Cold. Dauntingly attractive._

"Is she hot? Please tell me she is." Meg pleaded almost dramatically, lying beside me while a few others joined us.

_Yes. Very much so. _"What kind of question is that?" It was my turn to ask, earning me a chortle from Flynn and an eye roll from the brunette.

"What's her name?" Tiana bumped my foot excitedly.

I still hadn't caught her first name but thankfully Hans had stepped in, explaining that Thropp Hall (our dorms) and Crope Hall (his dorms. Apparently he was staying on the other side of us) had certain ways of addressing each other. _They do? _I thought while he emphasized with his own roomie, only calling him by his lastname and the others said their 'oh, we knew that's' among other mutterings, but one thought merged its way to the forefront of my mind.

_What kind of school did I get in to?_

"Okay, _Miss Michaels, _may I formally inquire as to what your roommate's name might be?" Meg tried again with a made up snark-y attitude that seemed to come naturally to her. "Oh, and doth she shine like the north star?" _Oh. And I was about to give you credit._

"Well, Sir Shakespeare-" I started, sitting up on my elbows to see Flynn, Hans, Tiana, and Meg all staring at me in anticipation. _Gee, don't you all have bunk mates of your own? _"Everyone? If you must know, her name is Miss de Cordova."

"Huh, sounds hot." Meg relented, albeit, disappointingly.

"Well, besides that, how'd the rest of your morning go?" Tiana asked after glaring at the brunette.

I told them about Anya fracturing her wrist and because the other girl didn't have an escort, that I had to room with Miss de Cordova and that Anya would ultimately be our chaperon. Hans and I explained what a chaperon was, considering that they had no idea.

I described to them the way my roomie was dressed, how she looked, when the Head threw me out and I ended up toning down the next incidents after I'd gotten up from the floor. They didn't need to know that our room was so cold my teeth chattered, that Miss de Cordova had staked her claim on the bed under the window and sat stoically in front of it like a statue, that I'd tried futily to make small talk, and that she'd snapped at me for attempting it, asking if I had it in me to shut my mouth.

They'd grill me endlessly for that. Especially Meg.

"As a matter of fact, she _does _sound pretty hot." Flynn commented with a devilish wag of his eyebrows. _More like frozen. _I thought as I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Hey, you're at Thropp Hall-" Hans quipped, putting a finger to my forehead. "Young Ladies do _not _show their tongues off. Especially to the boys."

"What about to the other Young Ladies?" Meg smirked, earning her a pointed look from the guy with the ridiculous sideburns. Seriously, I'm sure the dude came out of the womb with more hair there than on his head.

"Alright, forgive me, _Madam_ Dumott." I added with a snicker of my own when I thought of wee bald Hans with those sideburns. He raised a brow but I shook my head willfully at him, knowing that I'd be in trouble if I so much as mentioned them.

Once I settled down, Meg and Tiana went off on how their dorm was. They said that the fifteen girl deal was the lousiest thing ever and that it was unfair of a renowned establishment such as this to deny them the luxury of more than eight showers. It was quite odd actually, seeing as that, true, the university had certain standards, but what of the ones who didn't have money yet were smart enough to ace the exam?

Hans had began to mention something about social standing and order but my eyes caught a flash of white going into the cafeteria across the way. _Was that- _

"Oh shut your trap man!" Both Tiana and Meg whined.

"Who'd you see, Shorty?" Flynn was the only one who saw me looking at the cafeteria with as much interest as a kid to a candy store. "Ms. Cord-something-or-other?" He sidled his face up to mine, trying to see what I was seeing and I pushed him away.

"That's _Miss _to you, 're the same age." I said in defense, bringing all attention back to me.

"What? Where? I wanna see her!" Meg cried, up and running before any of us could react. I looked to the others in confusion before turning my eyes back to the brunette who was running in the opposite direction of where we'd been looking. _Okay?_

"How spirited." Tiana giggled.

"I'm going to get something to drink." I stated after I was done joining Tiana in a light laugh while the guys shrugged and proceeded to scan the other girls that had been hanging around on the quad too.

"Be a dear and get me a bottle of water please." Flynn asked, not taking his eyes off the field, but handing me some money. Hans shook his head and Tiana jumped up, insisting that I shouldn't be without an escort.

"You're a dork." I told her and blushed a bit when she looped her arm around mine.

"Well you never know, I might get to see this mysterious roomie of yours if I stick to you." She whispered, making my face flush a bit more. _Why am I blushing so bad? _I asked myself and when a few heads turned at our passing, I got my answer. _Oh boys and their dirty minds. _Tiana was definitely on the attractive side. Simply put; I was the green-leaf salad and she was the main course, but if Meg was there...I would be completely eliminated from the menu. _I think I'm hungry._

Once we got into the building, the sweet, mouth watering smell of baked goods hit me like a freight train. I made to follow the scent, but Tiana pulled me back to the selection of beverages, much to my disappointment. _One wouldn't hurt would it? _

"You know pastries go straight to your ass." Tiana scolded and I rolled my eyes.

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to, Ms. Johnson?" I asked coolly, making her roll her own eyes. Since she was eighteen, I decided to change her suffix, but it got my arm a pinch anyway.

"Maybe. But the way you eat sweets astounds me!" She stated in slight awe, turning a few heads at her outburst. "I swear, watching you devour chocolate makes me break out. Not to mention, kills my own appetite." She added with no malicious intent and I let out a soft chuckle, despite my burning ears. _A little louder please, I don't think Miss de Cordova heard you- Miss-? _

She was sitting in the corner of the room, eyes directly on me, but when I gave her a polite nod and smile, she blinked twice before looking out the window much like she had earlier. _Huh._

"One water" Tiana put two bottles in my hands, "cherry soda" another two and I just about asked when she added two more iced teas and two bars of chocolate.

"What the- do you have OCD Tiana?" I asked almost dropping some of it.

"No, I just like keeping it even." She stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I thought the quote was keeping it _real_."

"Shut up Michaels, before I have you pay." She wrinkled her nose haughtily at me.

"I bet you're gonna give him a twenty-dollar bill, right?" I grinned and when she made a move to hit me, I turned and basically bumped noses with Miss de Cordova, who I hadn't even seen walking by. Much like before, she jerked away before I even touched her. _N-not like I wanted to, but sheesh, just because I'm a redhead doesn't mean I'm contagious._

Tiana seemed to pick up that thought when I looked at her and she turned to watch the pale blonde girl for a moment before looking back at me with softened eyes.

"Don't worry dear, people like _that _have nothing to gain but an early grave from all that pent up frustration." She snorted arrogantly, making my jaw drop in shock when I noticed Miss de Cordova's head cock to the side. She'd heard that remark.

"T-Tiana! That's such a _horrible_ thing to say!" I nearly shouted, knocking her hip with my own. "You don't know what she's going through, what she's been through, she's human just like the rest of us, ya know." _Seriously, where did she get off on saying that about my roomie, about anyone actually?_

"Hey, take it easy Feisty-pants." She put a hand to my shoulder after helping me to place our drinks and candy on the counter. "I just don't like it when people treat you like garbage and walk all over you." Slapping a twenty on the counter, she looked back to where the pale blonde was still standing. "You're just too nice a person, sweetie. Quite naive and That gets you in trouble sometimes." Her smile was sweet enough to melt chocolate "which is why Meg and I have decided to keep an _extra _eye out for you to make sure you don't get hurt. If anything, that girl is the perfect incentive."

_Wow. Way to make me think I don't know what's good or not good for me without a solid opinion from apparent body guards. And what's up with already sticking a 'kick me' sign on Miss de Cordova?_

"Whatever." I grumbled, suddenly irritated and took my water from the bag. When I got to the door, Meg suddenly appeared, eyes lighting up when she saw my water.

"Get anything for me?" She asked.

I instantly pushed the water into her chest. "Here. What's mine is yours, apparently. Since I can't seem to make a decision on my own."

"Anna, wait- I wasn't being condescending there, I was-" Tiana put a hand to my shoulder.

"Speaking your mind." I interrupted, looking from stunned lavender eyes to dark brown. "Something you think _I'm _incapable of, since whoever I talk to, or _room _with could potentially be a threat to your precious little bird." _Where on earth was this coming from?_

"Whoa, what are you talking about?" Meg asked before glaring at people who were dumb enough to stare at us.

"Nothing. I'm tired is all." I rubbed my temple for emphasis. "Look, I'll see you all later, I still have some unpacking to do and then supper at five." I muttered before apologizing to them both and taking my leave. Little did I know that a certain pair of blue eyes watched me go before buying some things of her own and then following after me.

_Again, welcome to college. _I thought, beginning my trek up the ginormous hill. _Maybe I can fall asleep before she gets back so I'm not yakking her ears off. This is ridiculous. Stop being the victim Michaels, dad taught you better! _Shaking my head, I pushed the negative thoughts away, locked them up and stretched my arms.

_Sure thing. I just don't know her yet. _And I suddenly became determined to get to know Miss de Cordova, since we'd be roommates for awhile. _What's the worst she could do?_

I only let Tiana and Meg see what I wanted them to and they had no idea how I really was. It had always been like that since I met them. There had only been one person who knew the real me, but he sadly didn't get in to this school. _Kristoff I could use you right about now._


	2. Surprises

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>My first thought, when I eventually got back to the dorm was that of a Spartan Champion that had accomplished the impossible; <em>I did it. I made it to the end! The road was long but I ran it- <em>not really, but my heart was pounding and my thighs were burning, not to mention my face was red with exertion. _Father, why do you have to torture me so? _I inwardly lamented before sinking in to the chair at my desk.

"I should have kept my water and snagged a candy bar." I groaned lamely before righting myself when my phone rang. Sadly, it was only a text from my best friend, asking how the high life was treating me already. I replied that it was dandy as a halfway home. While I awaited his reply I unpacked my sketch book.

Either I could draw or play with my bamboo sword and since there wasn't so much room, I decided on the latter. As for having to choose between dance lessons and something else to keep me occupied when I was younger, I thought it would be awesome to learn how to use a sword. Unfortunately, the only program anyone offered was Fencing, but that still didn't stop me, I mean, there were swords right? Anyway, it taught me some form of balance, though I seemed to forget about it when the sword wasn't in my hand. I shook the thoughts from my head before I actually decided to swipe air instead.

_Forget unpacking at the moment, I'll have Anya do it when she gets here. _The thought made me shudder. _No way. Miss de Cordova doesn't need to see my underthings._

Kristoff's next message formed a smile on my face, saying that I ought to dig my way under the high walls and join him in a miraculous thing called _work. _I asked what was so enjoyable about working on a farm when I had the luxury of furthering my brain powers and eventually finding the job of my dreams? His response was asking if I indeed, dreamed of jobs. _Dork. _I was in the middle of typing a response when the door suddenly opened and I expertly dropped my phone in surprise, forgetting that I had a roomie. Of course, I most likely gave the impression that she'd walked in on me attempting to scan nude photos or something, so said her raised brow after I gathered myself once more.

"H-hi! I d-didn't see you there." I stammered, inwardly face-palming at my odd choice of greeting. She didn't seem phased though and unlike me, she didn't look like she'd made the same horrific march as I did. _How lucky to be in shape! _Or I was just a big baby.

I half expected her to sneer at me and then snap her fingers in order to chase me away while she was there. Even as I thought that, she hesitantly came over to place something on my desk. I stilled when she brought those pretty eyes to me and uttered the first words to me that hadn't been to ridicule, but to formally introduce herself.

"Elsa de Cordova. You may call me Elsa, since we'll be rooming together and I would like to thank you for sharing your coming chaperon." She paused before adding, "I would much rather put up with _one _loud girl than a whole flock of them."

"O-oh right, s-sorry about earlier, I hadn't meant to distract you or anything and oh my god I am so sorry for whatever you heard my friend implying. I-I don't think you're stuck-up or a-anything and I would _never _try to put you down, sh-she's just protective is all and I should really stop talking because you're looking at me like I'm crazy." I finished somewhat breathlessly and embarrassed out of my mind. My rampant mouth was a nervous tick and frankly one that only increased with age. "Uh, Anna." I cleared my throat, pushing an invisible strand of hair behind my ear. "My name is Anna Michaels and you may call me Anna as well." I expertly held in whatever else wanted to escape, bringing my eyes down to examine my feet. _Sorry._

"Then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Anna." She held out her hand to me with a composed face. _Oh my god she didn't run away like I feared she would! _I gingery took her hand, her gloved hand for about a split second before she took it back like I'd try to chop it off. I raised both my eyebrows at her while she somewhat nervously bit her lip, mumbling a quiet sorry and retreated to her side of the room.

"N-no it's fine! M-my hands are clean-" _where'd that come from? _"Uh, forget it. B-but you can call me just plain ole Anna, if you wish. Honestly, I'm not used to the whole 'emphasis on the suffixes' deal they have here." I air-quoted while she brought her bag to her bed. I hadn't noticed that the room steadily became cooler once she'd came back.

"It is a little odd." She admitted.

"Now I heard that this was a prestigious academy, but I didn't think we be stepping back a few centuries, I mean, I'm afraid to look around for outlet and not being able to find one." I inwardly gasped, now even more paranoid than before.

"There are light switches, are there not? Surely there's electricity, Benjamin Franklin." She softly snorted and I believe that _Ben Frank _comment was meant to fall on deaf ears as I looked to the ceiling in wonder, but I still caught it. _Ah, a jokester eh? _I chuckled to myself feeling like a dork for my dramatization on possibly not being able to keep my phone alive.

"I knew that." I sniffed as arrogantly as I could. "I was simply testing your own powers of observation."

"Perhaps you ought to test yourself first before you test me, yes?" She actually looked over her shoulder to smirk at me.

"No." I pouted. "If I came up with my own ideas, we'd all be doomed. I'd rather get the intelligent opinions of a beautiful woman like you-" she stiffened and I felt the biggest blush crash onto my face. _What did you- why did you- oh crap! Fix it! _"I-I-I mean, n-not that I was im- trying to hit on- y-you are very pretty, but I-I- sorry. I'm sorry." I bunched my fingers in the hem of my vest self-consciously and practically mortified that I'd let my tongue run away from me once more. _It was going so well too! Fudge!_

"Don't worry." She said softly. "You aren't the first girl to tell me that." Looking back at me I saw a distant, sort of distraught look in those blue pools. "Just don't try to court me." She warned before taking her leave.

_C-court? Me? W-what- why? _I stared after her, even after she closed the door behind her. Something told me she was even more self-conscious than I was. Afraid, more like. "I-I promise not to. Just don't run away from me." I mumbled to myself and turned back to my desk, seeing that she'd placed a bar of chocolate beside my budding sketch of a cartooned bear. Against my consent, as I picked the candy bar up, a smile crossed my lips and my heart warmed a bit at the thought that she wasn't as cold as she seemed. Even when I made a fool of myself and I saw the candy as a token of her own silent apology for snapping at me earlier.

Elsa. I thought, not bothering to indulge in the snack she'd gotten for me just yet. _Miss _Elsa? _Shoot, she didn't even say if it was okay to drop her suffix!_

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><p>I had a strange dream of bears that night. <em>Why bears? <em>They're freaking awesome! I had this habit of transforming people I knew into animated beasts. Though, I held off on drawing Elsa just yet because I'd already started on the Headmistress just for fun and maybe a good laugh as soon as it was done.

Anyway, I, myself, was a russet colored bear that had been playing around with the fish in the stream while the other bears lounged around the banks or in the deep grass a few feet away. An odd sensation fell over me, like I was being watched and I looked up to see the Headmistress with a double barreled gun pointed directly at me. Suddenly the other bears disappeared as I stood frozen in place, too afraid to move and too afraid to attack, so I stood awaiting my apparent ending like a fool.

Just before she could shoot, I saw a white figure stand up directly behind her, completely over shadowing her with the height of a polar bear. In the back of my mind, I already knew this ferocious white coated animal. It was Elsa and she was quick to knock the gun out of the Head's hands before swiping a huge paw at her in order to chase her away. The Head wasted no time in scuttling away from the white beast like a vampire from the sun.

After the danger was neutralized, the white bear then made her way down to the river bank, watching me intently while I immediately began fishing in order to pay her back. I hadn't noticed her approaching until her head bumped mine. Looking up, I found her immediately nuzzling into my neck as if we'd known each other forever and I found myself eagerly reciprocating, silently apologizing for making her worry so.

_Don't try to court me. _She then shoved me and growled before storming off.

"I-I'm not!" I opened my eyes in shock when I felt that very real shove and blinked a few times before I saw a pair of differently colored blue eyes staring mischievously at me.

"Good Morning Sunshine." Anastasia chirped happily, sitting up on my stomach to stare down at me, while I tried to grasp a hold on reality. "Well, don't just lie there staring at me, let's get you to your classes! Your roomie already left by the way. I supposed she's kinda charming...what with her arrogant I'm-better-than-you-and-have-awesome-hair attitude." She snorted, flipping her red ponytail in an odd way.

"Stop bashing Miss de Cordova, Anya." I groaned, stretching and throwing her off of me.

"Oh-oh _Miss de Cordova. _Excuse _me_, your Majesty." She feigned snobbishness and I shook my head. _Hopeless._

The remnants from my bear dream dispersed when I sat up to rub my still sleepy eyes. After I yawned, I brought my gaze to my clock, seeing that it in fact read seven-thirty. _What the? And Elsa's already gone? She must be superhuman. Geez!_

"You stay here." I pointed to the bed before gathering my shower supplies. "Oh, and hello Anastasia, welcome to North Mountain University." I added while she chuckled, not hesitating to get under the covers when I closed the door.

The water soaked my stiff body, making me wish I hadn't stayed up so late waiting for my roomie to come back. I really didn't mean to make her uncomfortable, but she seemed to pretty adamant about getting hit on. N-not that I _was trying_ to pick her up...the look she gave me formed in my mind, making my shoulders drop. _Sorry, the last thing I wanted to do was chase you away. _I figured I could make it up to her by getting her some sort of candy. _Hey, its worth a shot._

Of course, when I came back out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Anya was positively snoring and from her previous texts, she mentioned she'd be travelling all night to get here on time, so there was absolutely no way she was going to move until noon. _Good. Wouldn't want you passing out somewhere on campus, dearie._

I managed to tame my unruly head of hair before gathering my bag and schedule. Leaving the older redhead to snooze, I went to search for my first class.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Anna wait up!" Called familiar voices and I stopped ogling the pieces of metal, that had been welded together randomly to construct some form of abstract art, in order to see Meg and Tiana waving at me. <em>I was going somewhere? <em>Not particularly, my next class didn't start until twelve and I was simply wandering around when this place caught my attention.

"Yo." I greeted when they caught up. Either it was a trick of my eyes but it looked like they'd switched shirts because Tiana didn't wear band t-shirts and Meg didn't wear green. "What's with the personality switch?"

"Oh, it was our first assignment for our psych class." Meg wrinkled her nose, picking at the green fabric. They actually didn't look too bad. Granted, their mannerisms were going to be a lot harder to switch, though.

"This is such an odd exercise." Tiana complained.

"Maybe you'll both learn a thing or two." I mused, adjusting my bag.

"Oh, shit, right!" Meg exclaimed and instantly grabbed my shoulders, crushing me to her. "We're sooo damn sorry about yesterday! (Even though I had no real idea what was really going on) and since we're supposed to _be _each other: this is me as Tiana, apologizing for acting like a stuck-up bitch to your roomie yesterday." She petted my head like a kid's and cried out in exaggerated agony, apologizing like crazy while I felt my face grow warm in embarrassment for all three of us. _J-just stop. Please Meg!_

"I do _not _sound like that. And I don't do my best to embarrass you!" Tiana half shouted at Meg, finally having heard enough wailing for a lifetime. Frankly, I did too.

"Well you _should _be. Seriously, I haven't seen Anna _that _upset in a long while. Now Kristoff's gonna pummel us because of you." Meg tightened her grip on me and I sighed heavily, though regretting it when the next intake didn't return anything to my lungs.

"Yes! I'll tell him if you don't let me go!" Slowly but surely, the remnants of supplied air in my lungs was leaving, having a pleasant retreat and having me gasping for its return. Meg, in feigned fear, did release me and I gulped in as much blessed air as I could. After which, I immediately put some distance between all of us.

They both looked surprised after I did that but ended up smiling at me. "Aw, I think she's growing up, T!" Tiana faked Meg's voice and I actually snorted at that.

"Seems like- I mean- why _yes! _So it seems, great job, sweetie." Meg completely failed at attempting to act like Tiana and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at their idiocy. Seriously, that _was _a ridiculous assignment and I'd be damned if I had to act like somebody else but me.

* * *

><p>I spoke too soon, having not realized that I'd had that exact psychology class next.<p>

"...Human factors/ergonomics, a day in the life so to say..." I tuned most of his lecture out as I stared into equally surprised icy blue eyes that the proctor had paired me with. "...as an experiment, I want you and your partner to act like the other..."

_B-but what if we don't exactly KNOW one another?_

"Just because you do not _know _each other does not imply that you can't learn. Study your partner and from what you gather, act on that for the rest of the day, record your emotions as yourselves and them, write an essay and we'll see ya next time." With a wave of his hand, we were then dismissed.

_What kind of activity is this?! _I thought as Elsa and I continued to stare at each other. Even after the classroom emptied as if there had been a fire. I could see the panic beginning to grow in those eyes and was it me or was it getting colder?

"U-uh-" I tried and failed to compose coherent words while the pale blonde began to fiddle with her gloves. From up close, I saw that her gloves were a pretty navy blue color with intricate swirls and designs. They were unlike any I'd ever seen before, as if she had them especially made just for her own hands.

"I can't." Elsa admitted after a long minute, pulling my attention away from what appeared to be traces of a forming snowflake in the dark blue fabric at the end of the extended side that enveloped almost her whole forearms. "My tongue cannot express _every _corner of my mind in a matter of mere seconds." She said mildly

"And _I _can't stay quiet to save my life." I bit my thumbnail in thought. It was like our professor just _knew _to pair Elsa and I together_. _"Wait, let's just try. We'll study each other for an hour or so and then test drive our observations and the first one to break character gets a dollar." I challenged albeit lamely.

"Only a dollar?"

_Yup, pretty lame. _"Um, o-or not." I thought harder. "Okay, I got it, whoever loses has to write the essay."

"We _both _have to write an essay. Weren't you paying attention?" She inquired while beginning to finally pack up her bag. _Honestly? Not really._ I was surprised that nobody dared to either bother us or come and kick us out.

"Well, no-yes I know that, I meant...well if _I _win then I- I mean _you _have to right your essay under _my_ name-" I hesitated, wondering if it made as much sense on the outside of my brain as it did on the inside. "S-so, that way only one of us would describe our personalities/day in the life while the other would have to do the actual assignment. Get it?" I asked in probably more excitement that I should have as I held out my hand to her, already giddy with anticipation. "Have we got a deal, Miss Elsa?"

"I'm going to lose." Elsa shook her head before hesitantly taking my hand. Again, only for a split second before jerking it away.

"Um, deal." I could tell she was already trying because she wasn't one to say _um, _or try to stall with a useless grunt or half words like I did.

_Well, my hands are probably sweaty anyway. Either way, game on!_


	3. Mirror, Mirror

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>"Anna, I highly doubt we need to switch <em>everything.<em>" Elsa's face twisted in worry, from what I could see in the mirror anyway. I'd been doing my best to replicate her hair style, but to no avail as my fingers cramped and got tangled in my hair. _Aw, no!_

"Hey, I'm a _method_ actor- I mean actress and- ow! So I think-" I whimpered when I felt a few strands of hair tearing from my scalp as I tried to free my captive fingers. "T-this is the best way to do it. Owwie." I groaned, cursing myself for even bothering.

"By giving yourself a bald spot on the back of your head? I dare not put my own hair in pigtails by the way." She stated, doing her best to observe my actions without staring too much.

"It's all for the cause, you know, the show must go on!" I declared having finally gotten my fingers loose. _Her hair's so perfect! How on earth does she do it?_

"Okay, but are you always like this, or are you simply acting boisterous because you wish to laugh at me when I attempt such an embarrassing feat?" She'd given up trying to take notes. Then again, there was only so much writing one could do when secluded in the girl's restroom.

"Miss Elsa, the last thing I want to do is let you make a fool of yourself, but I can say that I normally act like this, sooo.." I drawled, bringing my shoulders up in a shrug while watching her eyes roll heavenward. "And I promise not to laugh _too_ hard."

"That's_ very _comforting." She quipped and I chuckled.

"Have no worries, I'm sure you'll be the one laughing when you see how _accurately _I depict your well being." _Yeah, you can't even look at the girl. How are you going to act like her? _As if my unconsciousness wanted to prove a point, my eyes went to the pale blonde as she stood waiting for me to finish fixing my hair and I saw that she was looking directly at me.

At the same instant, we both looked away with slightly flushed faces. _Way to go, Michaels. _I thought, finally getting my hair re braided to its original state not noticing that she hadn't even so much as reacted to my last statement. _The trick is not to imply, but to see. Not just her outer form, but also inside of her. It's to understand who she is and not what she does. _I took a deep breath and with those thoughts, I turned back to the girl infront of me.

"Can I have a closer look at one of your gloves?" I asked gently, not missing when she stiffened a bit.

"What for?" She asked quickly, bringing both of her hands to her chest.

"Well, they seem to play a major part in who you are." I pointed out in silent understanding. _Plus, I doubt you'd allow me any closer than this, in order to see them._ I added in my mind. She seemed the slightest bit surprised that I'd noticed that. Although, it wasn't hard to conclude that she most likely had a thing about dirt and the like, which was why she always wore them and wouldn't so much as touch anyone. It didn't bother me whatsoever and my real goal for asking for one was to see if she'd really be willing to remove them.

She did.

"So you _do _have skin on your fingers." I mused, trying to ease her sudden discomfort. Her bare hand clenched tightly as she handed me the glove with her other gloved hand.

Elsa stayed quiet while I examined that pretty colored glove. As I inquired earlier, there were snowflakes imprinted in the provincial blue cloth with flecks of silver thread running through them, offering a modest shine that shown when the light hit the silver just right.

"Wow." I breathed. _Now that you've felt, touched, it's time to look. _My father's words rang through my head and I did as instructed, bringing my eyes to uncertain cerulean colored eyes. "Beautiful." I had no choice but to admit, seeing that I miraculously had put off my awkwardness for the moment as I stepped into my Artist Mode. _Don't dig, for digging leads to upturned roots. There is no need to be impatient. Simply allow it to manifest for you, what it wants you to see. _

With his words and through the new mind set, I saw just how nervous Elsa was getting. As I continued to looking into those icy depths, that nervousness twisted into question, realization, and then to a stroke of fear. Fear of what, I didn't know, but what I did know was that the bathroom got substantially colder now that her eyes attached to mine.

It had gotten so cold that I was able to see my breath manifest in the air infront of me. Regardless, she kept her eyes on mine, albeit with more cautiousness than before, like she was dreading an anticipation for me to move and invade her personal space. Of course, I had no intention of doing that, seeing as her current fear and the cold air kept me firmly in place. I gripped her glove, analyzing what I saw in those eyes.

Elsa de Cordova was a very quiet, reserved girl and so formal, you'd think she was royalty. But under that facade, I saw something deeper, something she hid from the world, something she, herself, was afraid of and that same thing caused her to take a hesitant step back. By now, the air around us grew thick with the foreboding of something I couldn't put a name to. I tried not to shake, but it was so damn cold that I thought I saw snowflakes swirling in the air around us. _Why can't I look away? _Elsa seemed to be asking the same question, though she had more control over her body than I did and managed to take another step back.

Without realizing, I'd also taken a step forward, making her cower somewhat. "S-stay away." She warned suddenly.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Elsa." I found myself saying. She looked so scared and I wanted nothing but to ease that building tension. Even as I assured her, I could see just how hurt she already was without my doing anything, much like an animal that had been wounded and daren't trust humans anymore. It nearly broke my heart in two. _What sort of bad thing happened to you that's causing you to look at me like I'm a murderer, Miss Elsa? _

"...but _I_ might hurt you." She whispered, taking another step back. I shuddered again as a short gust of icy wind came at me, keeping me in place. A thought crossed my mind that I'd been pushing her a little harder than she was used to and a little more than I should have, if her shrinking into the corner was enough evidence. _Oops. _I thought as I reached up to push a strand of hair away from my face. Just as I did, the door to the restroom suddenly opened and her eyes widened as she brought her hands up infront of her in shocked defense.

In the split second that it took for my eyes to cut to the door, as a few other girls came in, and then back to Elsa, I saw something white shoot at me. Directly at my chest. For once, I had cat-like reflexes and was able to narrowly escape. By narrowly, I meant that I was able to dodge, but had unfortunately slid on some stray water and as I dropped to the ground, whatever it had been that shot at me gently grazed the side of my head.

Everything then went black.

* * *

><p><em>It was warm. Red. Grotesque.<em>

_There had been at least five of them. Crude looking creatures that sang, snarled, spat, cursed and smelt so putrid that I had to look away with tear-filled eyes and I also had to cover my mouth to siphon the precious air that made it into my lungs. 'Why am I here? What are those things?' I thought, cringing while on the verge of hysterical tears when I felt a strange lukewarm hand touch my head._

_Whatever It was, spoke, telling me that all was well, they wouldn't hurt me. Either way, I refused to trust them and cowered further into myself. As the jovial singing/foul accusations continued, I found myself completely left alone. Much to my chagrin and once I figured it was okay to look, I hesitantly brought my eyes to where it seemed like they'd been working on something. Working so adamantly that as they swayed in a single unit, they could easily be mistakened for a huge black python._

_They guffawed loudly, breaking glass and then bringing pieces back to the table to put together, like a puzzle, on a bigger slate. From where I was sitting, I could see that it looked a lot like a sort of looking glass._

_'Tis forged of magic from our fingers. They make it for me.' Grumbled the one that (I hadn't realized) hadn't went to back to join the others. It made me scream in surprise, instantly putting as much distance between us as I could manage. Its dark eyes stared at me in wonder, but didn't move. I could see that it had horns protruding from its head, wings and where his human-like body cut into his waist, I was horrified to see that his lower body was that of a goat._

_'W-w-what are you? Where am I?' I choked out when tears began to fall from my eyes. I didn't want to be here. Wherever 'here' was._

_'I am a troll.' It growled, incapable of soft speech. 'This my classroom. Them my students. They make mirror for me. Mirror make me pretty.' Also incapable of proper speech altogether._

_I stared on in terror, wanting to escape this nightmare. Never before had I a dream as vivd as this, it had me pinching my dream skin all for naught when the other creatures suddenly stopped their joyous banter. The one that had been talking to me stood to Its hooves as the others brought the mirror to It._

_'Now, you watch.' Its black eyes looked to me. There was nothing for me to do but what it told me to. My body was paralyzed with fear._

_As It looked into the mirror, Its reflection expanded, turning much more grotesque than it already was and It snarled. I feared It would smash the glass but as I looked on, the reflection twitched, rippled, coming back to the actual size of Its head and oh my god! My eyes beheld a regular man's face. A strong jaw, thick eyebrows, raven colored hair, eyes green as emerald and a light scruff on his chin. He was very handsome if anything._

_The then-creature ventured a glance at me through the looking glass and Its gaze filled me with such an odd mixture of feelings that I felt like I was going to puke my guts up._

_'You see? It transformed me. My students are quite talented." From the mirror, her turned to me, fully human. No longer a creature like the rest were and no longer speaking in a broken tongue! I could hardly believe my eyes, but as he neared, I saw no hooves, no horns, wings, it wasn't a trick of the light. He was indeed human. 'Go now. I grant you permission to leave, because if this mirror befalls on a pretty woman, her reflection will only multiply the ugly in her heart.' Now his voice was a gentle as a dove._

_'Why are you showing me this?' I asked as he picked me up._

_'It's simply a dream. You will wake soon enough, Miss Michaels. Your mother taught your imagination well.' He then kissed the side of my head and from the glass I could see that where he kissed, my hair changed colors, paling in contrast to the rest of my strawberry blonde locks. Wait, if I'M able to look into that mirror-_

_'There is no evil or ugly in your innocent heart.' He answered the thought (I was under the impression) that was asked in my mind. 'Therefore when YOU look there, nothing will happen to you, but since I am a troll, an unclean devil, where I've kissed, I've tainted you some. But have no fear. I will not do anymore to soil you.'_

_'What's your name?' I asked without thinking, not even phased at his previous words. _

_'You didn't give me one. I suggest you stop reading such silly stories before your brain seeps nonsense and people begin treating you badly.' _

_Before I could ask another question, the guy dropped me and I fell deeper and deeper still into a black void, screaming all the way..._

Consciousness seemed to grace me for a sweet second before stealing away as quickly as it had come but then came back. Somewhere during all of that, I began to hear warbled voices, as if I'd been submerged in a tank of liquid. _Was I? _No, I was completely dry. If anything, I was cold! Freezing actually. While I shivered, images of the white bear filled my mind, though this time time, she looked more like Elsa, but as both her human and animal form twisted with my artist's imagination, I saw her just how I would draw her in cartoon form.

The voices became more and more clear as her face then began to muddle into nothing, leaving a pounding dark headache in its weight. _Ow. _I meant to move, though I found my efforts were in vain. I'd heard of this sort of thing. Doctors would think the patient was under complete sedation, but in actuality, they were wide awake and able to feel and hear _everything _around them..._oh my god! Am I in surgery? But what for? Why can't I move? Why do those voices sound familiar? _I listened a little closer, hearing my friends' voices.

_No worries guys, I'm fine. Yeah. _Once again, I tried to move and when I still couldn't, I gave up and tuned in to what they were saying. They spoke of...well, they gossiped, mostly of boys, other stuck-up girls, the not-so-rich persons, instructors and their weird assignments, but that soon fell away when Anastasia began to go off about rumors she'd heard from someone about someone else about something or other. _Ugh, what? _All my brain really registered was _yadda yadda moon goddess yadda isolated through high school yadda yadda, _seriously, I hated gossip with a passion.

"My,_ that_ isn't what people say about her is it?" Tiana asked.

"According to _my _sources, yes. It was my job to look into the other person I'd be chaperoning along with Anna." Anastasia commented.

"That sounds like something straight out of a fairytale." I felt Meg's hand gently touch my forehead.

"She's quite the babe though, I saw her leaving as I was coming. No, not the _coming_ you dirty-dirty girls are thinking about." Flynn added and from the next _thump, _I could tell he got hit by someone, maybe all three girls and I would have too, had I control over my joints. _What the heck happened? Elsa was here? Why can't I open my eyes? _When I tried to do so, the brightness of the light stung ferociously and caused me to screw my eyes shut once more. _Ouch! Since when is simple light so bright it hurts?!_

"It's not _that _far-fetched to be cursed from the moon. Why, haven't you ever heard of Jack Frost?" Tiana ventured. _What are they on about now?_

"The snowman? When the sun goes down, does Anna's roomie turn into one?" Flynn questioned, gaining groans from them. _Roomie. Oh, they're talking about Elsa. But why? How long had they been talking about her? You should really try to get up now. _My consiousness suggested.

"No, dummy!" Another _thump. _"Like she's got _snow powers? _You're so hopeless, Fitz." Meg chastised. _Snow powers? Elsa? Cursed?_

"Whatever, _Gamora." _He snorted._ "_But anyway, back to the subject-" _no!_

"Quit gossiping about Miss Elsa." I muttered, trying to open my eyes once more. At least my vocals were working.

"Ah, she lives!" Anastasia whooped and I felt her weight on me. After much internal encouraging, I finally opened my eyes, though I still winced as my eyes adjusted.

"Rough night, Prom Queen?" Flynn leaned over, giving me that stupid 'smolder' of his that never actually seemed to work on any girl.

"Leave her be." Meg pulled him back from my line of vision and placed her own face in it. "Are you okay?" She asked, once again dabbing my head with a cloth.

"What happened? Where am I?" Blinking a few more times, my eyes adjusted.

"Well, you're in the infirmary." Tiana said quietly to the right of me. "As to what the hell happened, we don't know. The nurse just called Anya and she called us."

"Yeah, she was saying that some other girl brought you in and then hauled ass out of here like you were going to strangle her or something." Anastasia informed dramatically.

"No, _I _said she did." Flynn interjected. "Though, I wouldn't say she made like Jesse Owens, but she did look absolutely sorry- well more terrified if anything. And when we got here you were as still as a rock."

"How'd _you _get here before Anya?" Tiana asked and Anastasia explained that she had still been asleep at Thropp Hall when they called her.

"Not to mention that you now sport a pale blonde streak in your hair." Meg's fingers came to tug the strand loose so I could see it. "Are you already party-fouling without us?"

"Of course not, you know I don't drink." I snapped and hauled myself upright, ignoring the complaints from my joints in order to get a closer look at my hair. They weren't wrong. It really was a lighter color, almost bleached!

"It actually sort of suits you." Flynn snorted, earning him a slap upside the head from Anya. I examined my hair closer and suddenly remembered my ridiculously odd dream. An idiotic grin spread across my face, which ended up spouting a gut wrenching laugh from me. The other's gaped at me, but I only doubled over, clutching my stomach when I also remembered the particular book I'd been reading as I awaited Elsa's return the other night. '_I suggest you stop reading such silly stories...'_

"Shit, I think she's lost it." Meg was the first to speak as I tried to catch my breath. _Why am I laughing so hard? _Well, the whole dream just seemed too idiotic that I had no choice but to voice what I'd been cracking up about.

"Perhaps. But do you want to hear how I got this streak of white?" I asked with a smirk. They nodded and I could tell that, whatever way, I said I got it, Flynn and Anya would be the ones to join me in laughing.

"Spit it out!" The redhead's blue eyes sparkled in anticipation.

"Well, as weird as it sounds. I dreamt I was kissed by a troll."


	4. Days

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

><p>A day later, I found Elsa's written report on herself that had also been attached to a note, conceding her defeat on our little swap challenge. It was a little disconcerning and disappointing because I remembered no such events of us going through with that particular plan. Actually, the only thing I really remembered was coming up with the dumb rules and immediately after that my brain automatically switched to my troll dream. <em>Weird.<em>

Another day and a half later, Anya told me that the pale blonde had tried to leave Thropp Hall in order to join one of the other Halls that housed more than a few girls and when I asked why, she only shrugged. Later I found out that Madam Head had denied her permission to leave, saying that it wouldn't be fair to the other girls who had a roommate and that she'd have to wait until the middle of the year. Even then, there was no guarantee that she'd be able to leave or trade because by then, the other girls would have gotten used to their original roomies. A little odd to assume something like that, considering that some of those girls thought very highly of themselves while they roomed with a more modest type, but it was how the Head's head operated, it seemed.

_Why does Elsa want to leave? Did I do something wrong? Is it because I'm not exactly rich? Am I that annoying? _As I pondered these thoughts, I noticed that my roomie began to establish a bad case of 'the reading sulks.' I called it that because she would curl up in the far corner of her bed with her perfectly straight nose buried in a book, reading into the late hours of the night. Those where the only times I actually got to see her, but when the sun rose and I awoke, she was already gone.

On more than one occasion, I tried to talk to her, tried asking questions about our psychology class, tried nearly everything to get through to her, but she paid me no mind. Then again, I was almost always with Anya, who seemed to be looking at her as well, whenever I asked something and that seemed to make Elsa more uncomfortable than anything else. Regardless, every time I asked her something, I noticed the smallest of reactions in her facial expressions, like she really did want to answer me, but a sideways glance at me, then Anya, made her eyes shoot a different direction before she could speak.

This had gone on for a straight month. Anya began to get impatient with her and even began asking her what her deal was, much to my own displeasure. (I, on the other hand, had grown used to the silent treatment since I'd already tried to talk to her without so much as a syllable from her, but that didn't mean I was done.) I'd told Anastasia to back off and leave the girl be, which she ultimately rolled her eyes at, choosing to drop it for the moment. Anya's main reason for doing so was because she and the other chaperons had begun to organize a few outings here and there for us.

Of which Miss Elsa refused to participate in.

Aside from my roommate's sudden isolation, I began to burrow into my own studies. There had been a lot more to college than what everybody spoke of back home. Of course, I put in the extra time and effort to pass the entrance exam, but I was hardly prepared to begin shoveling all of the newer information into unknown pockets of my brain. Out of my friends, Flynn was the only one who could relate with me, which I found laughable because I never thought him the school boy type. Though, when he said he was trying to impress one of his 'hot' instructors, it made that much more sense. _Boys, I suppose, will be boys._

As a fresh, untainted girl from a much smaller home than most of these girls, I inadvertently shied away from what I really didn't know. That major topic consisted of the type of things that made one forget themselves and made them act particularly stupid. By that I of course meant alcohol and drugs, which seemed to be on every corner I looked. _Seriously, need you smoke right next to me? _Even Meg had already picked up that nasty habit and regardless that she thought she looked cool, I still didn't approve.

While I thought that, realization dawned on me when I found that the education the new girls had wanted had nothing to do with the classes, Madam Head, and the lectures of supposed _boring _instructors. No exams, no new quotations, they simply wanted the thrills of campus life, the freedom of being away from prying parents and even I attended a few parties, due to the palpable excitement from them. But left soon after arriving, mainly because I was seeing an illusion of fun, I was underage and I just didn't like alcohol. My own friends respected that (since I had Kristoff in my back pocket on standby) and they left me to myself. No peer pressure from them at least, if Tiana had anything more to say about it.

I suppose it was fun, although, if I was completely honest with myself, I really just wanted Elsa to be there to enjoy it with me. Seriously, she needn't be so adamant about being alone all the time. In my mind, I generally knew _nobody _wanted to be alone and if they argued, I'd conclude that they were in a deep form of denial and self-hatred, which made me hope that Elsa wasn't in either of those stages. But, of course, I knew she wasn't because I'd look up to see her staring out of the window when she thought I'd left to class, or dinner with Anya.

One Friday night, Anastasia actually got the night off and declared that she was going with another chaperon named Kida to meet their dates for a show in the city. _So that means I'll see you Sunday?_ I thought as bid her good night and safe travels and since Elsa wasn't in the room, I walked to my favorite statue on campus. The sun had yet to fully set so there was plenty of time to kill before I eventually had to retire. Thropp Hall had a curfew of eight-thirty and I still needed food, so instead of eating up there, I decided to dine at the main campus.

It was a rare Friday. One that had me caught up on all of my assignments. I had the weekend free of worry, but no one to really share it with since Tiana, Meg, Flynn and Hans had plans with their families. They all offered to take me back too, but I knew my father would most likely be too busy to visit with me and I didn't want to impose on _their _family time either, so after much convincing, they eventually trusted me enough to stay behind. I had Anastasia here too, if anything.

So with hunger being the biggest topic in my mind, I switched routes and went directly to the mess hall. The food actually tasted better here than at Thropp, which was another reason I ventured this way once I was free of a chaperon. Don't get me wrong, I loved Anya but it was nice to have some alone time. _Hypocritical much? No, optional alone time is different from complete isolation. _At least one could be considered a sort of breather from a constant presence while the other consisted of depressed loneliness.

"I suggest you try the soup-roast. It's to die for." A male voice said from behind me, causing my concentration to break. I hadn't even realized I'd been standing there staring at the menu for a little over five minutes. _Whoops._

"I-I'm sorry, you can go in front of me." I apologized quickly and turned to see the emerald green eyes of a boy that had a huge lopsided grin on his face, pointed directly at me. _Whoa._

"Ladies first. I insist, Miss." He gestured politely for me to continue and since we now were _both _holding up the line, I clumsily placed my order, saying what he'd said to try.

"I'm Kai Andersen, by the way." The boy- well, guy, mentioned while we waited for the cooks to give us our trays.

"A-Anna-" I cleared my suddenly dry throat, as if I hadn't spoken in a while and tried again. "My name is Anna Michaels, nice to meet you." I briefly wondered if I needed to add some sort of suffix to his name.

"Well then, Miss Anna, it's very nice to meet you too." Kai smiled warmly at me and offered to take both of our trays to a table and since I'd never been treated so formally, I only nodded. _What's with this guy? He's pretty good-looking in the least- focus before you trip over your own feet! _

He lead me to a table sort of toward the back and on the way, I couldn't help but think I'd seen him somewhere before. In a class perhaps? Something in those eyes, that hair, that beauty...what was it? And why did my knees feel weak all of a sudden?

"So do you normally stay around campus on the weekends?" Kai asked once he set our trays down and pulled my chair out for me like a gentleman. So much so that I felt my face begin to grow a little warm.

"U-uh, um, no. I- well sort of, I have a chaperon." I finished quickly, as if that was reason enough.

"Oh, so you're at Thropp Hall?" He asked, grinning at me and I felt an odd sensation shoot through me at that look. "I'm right across from you at Crope Hall."

"Then, do you have a Chaperon, too?" I asked, trying to calm my seemingly racing heart. _What is this feeling?_

"I did last year." He shrugged before starting in on his tray of food. _So he's older than me? Is that why I feel this way? _Something told me that wasn't it, but I distracted myself by digging in to my food too and oh my god was it as delicious as he'd described! "I told you it would be good." He commented like he heard my thought.

"So you did." I replied, forgetting that I was supposed to act a little more ladylike, but whatever, I was hungry and this was good.

When I finished, he was kind enough to take the trays back up to the front. As he went, I couldn't help but stare at his backside. He had broad shoulders, he was tall, dark-haired and handsome with a killer smile. _Is it because I feel attracted to him i one way or another? _I chewed my lower lip in thought for only a second before he came back, placing a can of soda infront of me.

"I just realized that we didn't even get drinks." Kai said in amusement and as if on cue, my mouth suddenly felt very dry. _Oh, right? How'd that happen?_

"T-thank you, Master Kai. I didn't even think about that." I lightly chuckled as I took the can and opened it. "I'll pay you back-"

"Don't mention it. Everything is on me, well, the drink anyway." He grinned once more and gestured for me to get up. "You can just call me Kai by the way. Now, allow me to escort you back to Thropp? It's quite late and not right for a young lady to be wandering around alone."

"O-okay then." I stammered, trying to gracefully stand to my feet, but tripped on my shoelace at the last second. Luckily, he had fast reflexes and was able to easily reach out to steady me, while my face grew hot with embarrassment.

Kai let out the softest of chuckles, but kept it polite in an odd way, like he found it more, I don't know, _cute _than clumsy? Either way I wasn't allowed to feel depressed about it as he made sure I was alright enough to stand on my own. I silently cursed my shoes while I apologized to him and leaned over to retie them.

"And here I thought you swooned for me." He chuckled when I straightened back up, blowing a stray strand of hair from my face and smirked at him.

"Good one." I commented. His grin grew into a toothy smile and I saw his eyes twitch to my hair before he gave a short nod for me to go ahead of him. I did so as fast as I could, considering we were now getting looks from the people around us. _Go, Anna, go before they think you're incapable of walking on your own!_

* * *

><p>When I got back in to the room, I immediately leaned back against the door, heaving a sigh of relief and exertion. <em>I swear, I'm never going to get used to that uphill walk! <em>Though, I was sure that if I asked Kai, he'd have no problem carrying me all the way up. That was just the kind of vibe that I got around him. Why? I had no clue, but the thought of those bright green eyes and lopsided smile had my own dumb smile grow on my face. _Kai Andersen. Second year._

I let out a yawn, stretching my arms and when I turned toward the restroom, I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw Elsa sitting there.

"Hi! I-I didn't see you there!" I squeaked while trying to calm my racing heart. _Holy cram she scared me! _Her response was her blue eyes looking up from her book, to the door, to me, and then back to the book. "Yeah, Anya- A-Anastasia is off for tonight and most likely tomorrow." I added, scratching the back of my neck somewhat nervously. This was the first time, since we Anya got here, that we would be alone once more.

When she didn't say anything, I inwardly sighed. _Well, looks like it'll be another- no! _I knew for a fact that Anya made her nervous and since it was just plain ol _me _now, I was determined to try to get her to at least utter a single word! Yes ma'am...

_Maybe after I shower._

And just like that, I retreated into the restroom for the time being. As the water gradually turned warm, I suddenly felt like an idiot for not bringing her something. The least I could have done was bring her some sort of dessert from the mess hall. I, for one, knew that main campus sweets were so much better than the ones up here. _Oh well, maybe next time. _I quickly soaped myself up, rinsed and went back out once I put my sleeping clothes on.

I flopped onto my bed, letting my muscles relax further and I sighed blissfully.

"How was your Friday, Miss Elsa?Any homework?" I ventured, sticking to my plan of trying to get her to talk. She didn't answer and when I looked over at her, she had her nose in a book that had been upside down, letting me know that she hadn't been reading while I was in the shower.

"My Friday was pretty easy." I went on alone. "I only had one exam and as for the rest of my classes, I already did everything so I'm free! Thank goodness. I need a break." I sighed again, but this time, not in relaxation, but slight defeat. Or was I just tired? _Dinner was pretty good tonight, it's calm...yeah I'm tired. _

I sat up and went back to the restroom to locate my brush so I could brush my hair before it went out of control. When I came back in, I saw Elsa somewhat awkwardly drop her book in her lap and had no choice but to flash her a light smile. Instead of sitting back on my bed, I pulled out my desk chair, deciding that I could draw something before turning in for the night. Maybe Kai as a bear. _Already? _I inwardly shook my head, beginning to run my brush through my hair, but my earlier question hit me again. _Why did he look so familiar? I feel like I should know- _when it dawned on me, my brush suddenly got caught in a tangle and I ended up yanking my head foreword.

"Ow!" I cried, making Elsa jump too. "Stupid-" I muttered, rubbing the top of my head, but I remembered! Kai looked exactly like that troll did in my dream!

"Are you okay?" A quiet voice came and I nearly dropped the brush altogether. As if I couldn't believe my own ears, I looked to Elsa in astonishment.

"What? No! I-I mean yes, I was just lost in thought is all." Instead of continuing, I instead kept to brushing the rest of my hair out. _Kai as a troll, that's something to draw for fun. Elsa spoke! Kai as a bear? Elsa- _I quietly snorted at myself, feeling ridiculous for those random thoughts. _Mission accomplished, Anna. She uttered a word. Three, but who's counting?_

Grinning to myself, I immediately pushed my hair over my left shoulder before getting out my sketch book. As I flipped to a blank page, I didn't realize that a single sheet flew out and landed by Elsa's bed. _Alright, troll or bear? Is that weird? I only met Kai today. I did have a dream about him...does that count? _I thought it over, drawing a single line across the page and that was enough to make me add to it, forming neither troll, nor bear, not even Kai. It was slowly turning into a snowflake.

"Is this me?" Asked Elsa.

My hand froze, breaking the tip of my pencil. _Uh-oh! _Bravely, I glanced to the side to see Elsa standing about a foot away from me with- oh god! It was a drawing of her! As the white polar bear from my funky imagination.

"U-uh, sort of?" I felt my ears beginning to burn. "L-look, I'm sorry, I just have a habit of drawing people that I know and somehow they all turn in to animated bears-"

"I like it." She stated and I shut right up. _Say what?_ "Can I see more? I noticed you always draw something before you go to bed."

"Y-yeah! Of c-course you can." I stammered, handing her the very book I was working on and not believing my own ears, eyes, hands, nothing. She was actually talking to me! I watched in happy anticipation while she looked through my different drawings. I loved drawing bears, but I drew other things too, but the one she lingered on was one of myself as a bear. Funny thing about that one, it just happened to be the first animated beast I drew, you know, because if there was _anyone's _face I could potentially mess up, it would have to be my own.

"You're really good." She said in slight awe, still looking at the one of me. I zoned in on her creamy smooth skin that seemed even more soft under the light. Her pretty cerulean colored eyes were a little darker shade, due to the darkness of the outside sky, but they still seemed to glow. And her hair! Like the silver lining of a cloud after a rainstorm. My eyes fell to the swell of her ruby lips and seemed to catch my attention more than anything. _She really is beautiful._

"Um-" I gulped, feeling light headed suddenly. "Y-you can h-have that one if you want." I gestured to myself as a bear and nearly fainted when she brought her eyes to mine in the shiest of smiles.

"Thank you, Anna." She whispered.


	5. Ice Cream

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>My surprisingly normal dreamworld gave way to reality when I heard the ongoing soft scribbling of pen to paper. Opening an eye, I was pleasantly surprised to find Miss Elsa still there. Though, she wasn't on her bed, she was actually up, hair fixed, fully dressed at her desk and writing. A glance to my digital clock told me that it was... <em>7:50am! My goodness she's insane! <em>Then again, she was usually always out the door, rain or shine, before I woke up. (Weekends included) but there she was, radiantly daunting as ever

"Mornin'." I mumbled, turning back over and burrowing deeper under my covers. Let's face it, it was Saturday and Anya wasn't here to chase me out of bed either. _I need to savor it! _Not to mention that the coolness of the room was the perfect temperature to snuggle to. Sighing contentedly, I relaxed further, not really caring if she answered me, but I did sense that moment of hesitation; like she wanted to, almost did, waited too long, and then dropped it altogether. Unbeknownst to her, I let a lazy smile cross my lips at that.

Regardless that the atmosphere was comfortable enough for me to eventually fall back to sleep in, I couldn't. I didn't want to go back to sleep. How could I when she was still there? Granted, she may have been avoiding me for whatever reason all this time, but that didn't stop me from wanting to get to know her better. That was just who I was and since Miss Elsa was my roommate, I had the insane urge to follow through with that notion. She didn't have to be afraid of me and I wanted to show her that I wasn't like others, that she could talk to me if she so wished.

So, much to my body's protests, I got up.

"I'm sorry, am I disturbing you, Anna?" Slight guilt was laced her voice, jolting me fully awake and I turned from my searches of clothes for the day to the girl who was now looking at me like she actually was bothering me. _Pfft!_

"No, no, no! You're fine, I-I'm just going to go shower." I answered, looking into her blue eyes that seemed to glow in the rays of the rising sun as well. Today she had decided to leave her glossy hair down and it fell in gorgeous platinum blonde waves around her shoulders. _So pretty._ Almost all of her clothes consisted of a shade or two of blue and absolutely _none _of her outfits were boring, how one was able to find clothing with such a characteristic was beyond me. So says the simple green v-neck I was going to wear today.

She nodded then, turning back to her notebook with the smallest of smirks on her pretty face. It didn't dawn on me as to why that was until I got a load of myself in the mirror. _Whoa! It's the bride of Frankenstein! Just need another stripe of white on the other side. Or I could probably pass as Mr. Depp's wife. _Was it just me or was my bedhead _worse _today than it had been all week? I was surprised that she didn't outright laugh at me. I know _I _would have if I were her. Shaking my head at my ridiculousness, I turned to get the shower going, hoping that she'd still be there when I got out.

As I stepped into the semi-hot water, I wondered what I would do for the day. _Will Miss Elsa want to hang out with me? I hope she does. _I wasn't sure if she had friends of her own and I didn't care, I simply wanted to be in her presence. That is, if she'd have me. _Oh dear, what if she thinks I'm annoying? Clingy? We haven't even really talked since school started! Maybe I should have tried harder to get through to her. But Anya wouldn't let me- _I cried out in surprise when I distractedly dropped the bottle of shampoo right on my foot.

"Ow, stupid brain, why don't you shut it for once?" I muttered to myself , deciding to finish up showering instead of attempting to abuse my body even more by thinking any harder.

When I did finish, (without other mishaps, thankfully) I quickly brushed out my hair before it suddenly grew a mind of its own and tangled beyond control. I already scared Miss Elsa lastnight, no need to do it again. _I wonder if she thinks me strange for the many showers I take? _Actually, I'd forgotten that I already showered when I got back lastnight. _Must be early Saturday. _Groaning inwardly at my own forgetfulness and checking my clothes once more, I went back into the room to find Miss Elsa still sitting at her desk, though now she was readjusting her gloves and her notebook was nowhere to be seen. _How can she write with those gloves? Wait, was she writing with them?_

"So what are your plans for today, Miss Elsa?" I asked without really thinking about it. Well, it was either that or one of the many others about those gloves of hers. _I choose safety for now._

I was still in the mindset that I wouldn't really get an answer from her, so I went about fixing my bed and when I checked the time again, I saw that it was barely even 8:20. _Looks like its gonna be a long day. _Then again, I really had no real plans either. Maybe sleeping until noon was the better option? I pushed those dramatic thoughts away with a flip of my pillow. _Make rest a necessity, not an option. Only rest long enough to gather strength. _A smile tugged at my lips as I dusted my hands triumphantly while I checked out my handiwork. Okay so my bed making skills also needed to be worked on...

"I have no plans."

_She speaks! Michaels you are on a roll! _Though, _why _Miss Elsa suddenly decided to start talking didn't really bother me, I had the suspicion that it was because Anastasia wasn't there to try to coax her to talk either. Anya could be a little harsh in her approaches to the quiet girl and I normally ended up yanking her back out of the room for some tea where she would go off on how stuck up Elsa was acting. In my opinion, it was _Elsa's _own way of evading questions, a sort of, defense mechanism so to say. Miss Elsa was a little delicate and while I didn't really believe the rumors I'd been hearing about her, I knew it was important to take baby steps while in her presence. Don't ask why, I just knew.

"Neither do I." I stated, shrugging at my lumpy bed before flopping back onto it. _Guess I could be the spoiled one here since Anya fixes my bed everyday. _"What do _you_ want to do today then?" I asked suddenly. _Baby steps? _I rolled my eyes at my own sarcastic mind. _Hey it's just a simple question, she can reject me if she wants. Oh god, what if she's compelled to spend it with me because I asked like I was a lost puppy? _And it was too late to take it back!

"What exactly isthere to _do_ on campus?" She asked quietly. It made me wonder just what she did when Anya was here. Maybe she went to visit family? That had to be it, considering that she didn't know what to do.

"Sadly, not much." I shrugged. "It all happens outside of those walls." Which was true, my weekends were spent with the gang in town.

"You said your chaperon was off today?"

"Yeah, but she's probably hungover somewhere, you know, since it was her first night off in some time." I answered with a snort and turned on my side to see Miss Elsa staring toward the window. "What do you normally do? B-because I spend my weekends with everyone in town, but they all went home this time."

"I spend mine at home." She said quickly with just a light snap that had me raise a brow. _Okay ixnay on the weekend-nay. _

"I could have went home, but my dad's so busy that I would have been alone anyway." I stated, sitting back up to stretch my arms. _I wonder if this is too much for her? Should I leave? Maybe I could-_

"I'm sorry." Elsa's words struck me and I looked at her.

"W-what for? You didn't do- say a-anything wrong." _Did she? _I was under the impression that I was starting to dig and she was getting uncomfortable. _Did I say something wrong?_

"I didn't mean to snap at you."

"No, it was my fault, I shouldn't be prying." I gave her a reassuring smile but she didn't look convinced. "Look, what you do is your business and I-I shouldn't be pushing you to tell me what you don't want to. Like I said sometime ago, 'the last thing I want to do is let you make a fool of yourself' and if you feel like I am, then by all means, snap at me." I chuckled, thinking that I sure had a ton to say.

"You are too kind, Anna." Elsa whispered. When I looked at her, her eyes were downcast, hands in fists on her knees and back as straight as a wall.

"I hear that gets me in trouble sometimes." I commented, watching as her eyes suddenly met mine in a chaste kiss before she looked away once more. "But I'm allowed to be super kind to you, you know why?" I asked, perking up a bit as an idea crossed my mind. Her answer was a quick look back to me and then back to the window. "Well, because you, Miss Elsa, are my roomie and to prove my kindness-" I stood up "come with me and let's go get some ice cream."

"Anna, it's barely even _nine_." She stated as a matter-of-factly, like I didn't know.

"So what? Since when does someone who's jonesing for chocolately deliciousness need an excuse to eat ice cream? I know the perfect place that serves the stuff all day everyday."

* * *

><p>"Hey, I was wondering when I'd get to see you again." A velvety voice and familiar emerald green eyes greeted me from under a Vanillope's visor with that lopsided grin of his.<p>

"Kai? You work here?" I asked, returning his smile.

"Indeed, just started today." He answered, looking beside me. "And who might _this _be?"

"Oh this is my roomie-" I was about to say her name, but the way she stiffened suddenly, made me swallow my words. _That's weird, its like she made me lose my words. _I shrugged it off. "I would like-"

"No name?" He asked her directly with his gaze steady, unharmful, just curious.

"Elsa de Cordova." She practically growled at him and I didn't miss the way her arm brushed mine, like she was standing so close to me- wait she _was _standing that close. _But I thought she didn't like touching people? _

"Pleasure to meet you Miss de Cordova" he gave us a toothy smile "since you're _this _firecracker's roomie, I figure you have a chaperon too- but wait, I don't see anyone else with you." He drawled playfully, making me roll my eyes.

"Whatever Mr. I-had-one-last-year. Now, are you going to take our orders or do we have to talk to your manager?" I asked smugly.

"god, please no! She scares the crap out of me." Kai shivered dramatically.

"Good, then I'll have the Mudslide and-" I looked to Miss Elsa, who shrugged. I briefly wondered if I should order the same for her. Did she like chocolate like I did? Come to think of it, I basically dragged her out of the dorm without stopping to question if she even _liked _ice cream, then again, _who _didn't? "The Green Pistachio for her." I shrugged. That one was one of the first ones I tried and I loved it.

"You got it." Kai rung up our orders and I paid him, even though Elsa tried to pay for her own, which made a dark eyebrow raise. "You two are _just _roomies right? Because-" before he had time to finish, another impatient couple cleared their throats and he dropped his observation on us to take their orders instead.

I snorted at his uncharacteristic awkwardness before following Elsa to the counter where we waited for our ice cream. _I swear, people and their assumptions! _For one, Elsa told me herself to not make romantic advances on her. I hadn't been then, and I sure wasn't right now. _R-right? Don't be stupid, you don't even know what that is. _Looking over at Elsa, I saw that she had a slight scowl on her face and was looking outside. _Well, she might be okay with me, but I don't think Prince Charming over there appealed to her very much. Ya think?_

"You okay?" I asked quietly, leaning in just a bit. She looked too lost in her thoughts so I pondered on whether to poke her or leave it. Luckily, our orders showed up just as my hand came up to touch her shoulder. _A-alright! Ice cream! _Cripes, even my consciousness stuttered in awkwardness. Instead of possibly making her jump, I turned to take her cone and my bowl before carefully holding hers out to her. Icy blue eyes lit up at the sight of her frozen treat and when she looked to me, I had to give her a dopey grin. Seriously, she looked so much like a little kid, I'm sure she would have bobbed like one if we weren't being watched by those green eyes.

"Hey, Anna, can I call you later?" Kai asked suddenly, making Elsa's face drop once more. I blinked a few times, wondering what was up with that and when I turned back to Kai, he was holding out a napkin to me. "Actually, you can call me, I've got people waiting on me." He gave me an apologetic smile before dashing back to the register.

"How did you do that?" Asked the girl that handed us our napkins and spoons. "I've been trying to get him to look at me since he started working." She had pretty ocean blue eyes with honey colored hair. Her name tag read Gerda and she seemed absolutely sweet! Not to mention, older than me, which would most likely work better for him since he didn't have to deal with An-

"Here, then." Elsa snatched the napkin, he gave me, from my fingers and placed it infront of the girl. Gerda's and my eyes widened in surprise and when Elsa strutted back out of the shop with her cone, I stood there with my mouth slightly open. _She just-_

"J-jealous girlfriend?" Gerda asked after another second, snapping me from my thoughts.

"You know what? I have no idea." I murmured, taking my bowl and spoon. I left Kai's number with her as I scrambled after the platinum blonde.

"H-hey wait up, Elsa!" I called once I spotted her at the crosswalk. When the sign said it was fine to walk, she didn't go, she waited for me to catch up. A million thoughts ran across my mind, but I kept them all in, not wanting to chase her away. "You're going the wrong way." I said instead, making her fine eyebrows dip in confusion.

"We're _not _going back to the campus?" She asked quizzically.

"No, of course not." I answered and when she opened her mouth to protest, I stopped her. "I know its against the rules, but, I mean, come on. Have you explored the town? It's small but it has the potential to be fun." I took a spoonful in my mouth and shivered in delight.

"What do you suggest then?" She asked. I grinned, but when she turned to glare at some passerby that whistled at us, I inwardly sighed. _Guess that's one of the reasons she stays secluded. Back off people! _

"Well, why don't I show you?" I gestured down the sidewalk to a nearby park and a thought crossed my mind that told me to offer my arm, but I knew she'd most likely reject it, so I walked silently beside her while scooping more ice cream into my mouth. _Pistachio is one thing, but chocolate is in a whole different league! _I was too busy licking my lips, enjoying my Mudslide when Elsa suddenly smashed into my side, wrapping her arm around mine in a vice-like grip. I grunted in surprise, nearly losing my spoon when I saw the cutest black and white chihuahua sniffing around Elsa's shoes.

The air around us suddenly grew colder, like a chilly gust of northern wind decided to blow at us in that moment. Said girl squeaked and I heard her cone begin to crack, or was that my arm? _Uh oh! _The dog looked up at us in wonder and as another breeze of cold swirled around us, Elsa ended up dropping her cone, thus scaring the poor four-footed four-inch beast away from her feet. Without another word, she pulled me forward and lead me to a spot where there was less people. Nobody actually. _How'd she- _a glance to her freaked out face, shut my mind up instantly.

"W-whoa, a-are you okay, Elsa?" I asked when her grip didn't loosen on my arm. "Don't w-worry, it was just a harmless pup. Look he's gone now." I tried to sooth the frightened girl. "Here-here, have some chocolate and let's forget about the whole thing." Instead of waiting for her to comply, I held a spoonful of Mudslide to her quivering lips. "Open?" I asked like a dentist and when she looked at me, I gasped when some smeared on her cheek. "I-I'm sorry!" Putting my spoon back, I quickly reached up to wipe at her cheek with my thumb, but froze at just how _cool _her skin felt.

She stiffened at the contact and I could tell she wanted to jump away like she normally did when she so much as touched me, but the fear in her eyes held her in place. Also her grip on my arm. _What on earth made you this way, girl? _I asked silently, not taking my eyes off of her hers, but since I didn't want the chocolate to stick to her face or my hands, I tentatively brought my thumb to my mouth, seeing as my other hand was occupied at the moment. She broke eye contact first as my lips closed around my digit. Even I surprised myself at that. _Gerda gave us napkins did she not? _Unknown emotions swirled in those blue depths as my thumb seemed to linger a little longer than I intended and when I eventually pulled it back out, those eyes came back to mine, making me shiver suddenly. _It-it's a nice day, but w-why does it seem to be hot and cold at the same time?!_

"U-um, see? I-I'm here, there's n-nothing to fear." I blabbed on impulse.

"So you are." Elsa answered after a minute more of staring at me. By then I had faltered in my own keeping eye contact and resorted to looking at her and then away. _What's wrong with me? What if she's trying to tell me something? _As if one cue, my eyes came back to see her looking at my bowl of ice cream. "May I?" She asked, not relieving her hold on my arm.

"Y-yes, of course, go right ahead." I stammered. She gave me a small thankful smile before taking the spoon that still had the portion I'd tried to give her and brought it to her mouth. My eyes suddenly glued to it as it disappeared between her lips. _D-does that count as an involuntary kiss? _My face warmed at that thought and I found myself nibbling at my lip in sudden nervousness.

"Thank you, Anna." She whispered and much to my growing nervousness, she held up the next spoonful to my lips.

_H-h-holy cow! This isn't good for my heart right now! _But she insisted so, with my heart pounding, ears burning and stomach twisting, I opened my mouth and let her feed that spoonful to me.


	6. Fractal

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

><p><em>Cynophobia- the fear of dogs. <em>We sat at a bench once we finished off the rest of the Mudslide in somewhat awkward silence. Awkward because I made it that way by blushing the entire time, but I couldn't help myself as thoughts of involuntary kisses and how they did or didn't count filled my mind. I chose to let those individual chances of when Elsa ate a spoonful before feeding me another as just her being _kind _and not romantic, since she was also gripping my other arm for dear life. In another way, that could have been considered teamwork.

"Do you find it strange?" She asked suddenly, not looking at me. Glancing sideways at her, I thought over that question. _Is it strange that she's afraid of dogs? Of course not. _In the back of my mind, I actually found it a little endearing. _I mean come on! It was a chihuahua! _

"No, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. People all have their own fears." I shrugged nonchalantly. "My friend Eugene is scared of clowns, my best friend Kristoff hates dolls." I turned to her, finally forgetting about the whole sharing ice cream deal. _I think that's a safe bet and it was probably a great distraction for her. _"Don't go thinking I'll make fun of you for anything. Especially if it means something to you, okay?" _I'm not the kind of person you think I am. _I gave her a stern look that told her I meant what I said.

She said nothing, but I could see the relief in her eyes. Inwardly patting myself on the back, I looked around, noticing that there were indeed, furry creatures everywhere. _Oops. No wonder she's still tense! _My eyes came back to her, taking in her rigid form, even the air around us had a bite to it as she nibbled on her lip. _Was it just me or was she enduring- oh man, she probably won't want to go with me anymore if this goes on any longer! Think, Anna, get her away from this place._

"S-shall we?" I asked, jumping to my feet in a hurry. Elsa looked up at me in slight confusion and I figured she was lost in thought before I yanked her away from them. "That is, i-if you're ready, but I don't think you want to hang around here any longer." I half chuckled when a few jokes crossed my mind, but I quickly cast them aside, remembering what I'd just said a few moments ago.

Elsa stood, trying to compose herself when a black lab zoomed by us at the speed of light, intent on fetching the ball its master threw and I found my arm once again being gripped by both of her hands. _Big mistake to bring her here. _Actually, I never really noticed how many dogs there were at the park, then again, the things never bothered me. _Is it too late to voice my apology? _I cleared my throat and lead her toward the nearest getaway, which, unfortunately just _had _to be over a bridge. A bridge that stretched over an impending amount of water.

"Um, so would you mind if I asked _why _you're afraid of dogs?" I inquired, trying to distract myself this time around. She didn't answer and I felt my own anxiety begin to take over as we neared the bridge. _Breathe Anna. _"Y-you aren't afraid of water right?" I squeaked, freezing mid-step and making her stop to look at me curiously.

"No."

"G-great! At l-least _one _of us can stay sane then." I stuttered, returning her grip. "Lead the way." I began to steel myself as much as I could. _Either this or you'll probably make her hate you for forcing her to endure her..fears? Wait, shouldn't that sort of help her? Couldn't this help me?_

"You're afraid of water?" Elsa asked instead and I felt my paper-thin resolve melting like her cone back there.

"I-I didn't judge you, will you do the same for me?" I asked, taking a quick step back. Even the sound of rushing water was enough to put me on edge. "My friend Kristoff, h-his grandparents went on a cruise and the boat sunk, drowning them. Also when I was younger, I got shoved into the deep end of the pool and almost ended up drowning too." If my sentences made any sense to her, I'm sure the linguistics team would be completely astonished.

"I watched _Cujo _when I was younger." She said quietly, taking my focus off of the water. "That movie planted the seed and then I got attacked by a random dog soon after." As we began to walk again, she pulled her right glove down a little to reveal a scar on her forearm. "Dogs and I never got along after that." My eyes widened at the sight. It wasn't a huge scar, but the teeth marks were clearly evident on her perfectly smooth skin. Suddenly, I found that I would rather cross over three more bridges to make up for the mayhem that I'd probably just caused her.

"I'm sorry, i-if I knew I-" I immediately began to apologize.

"You didn't know." She snapped. "There's plenty you don't know about me and I prefer to keep it that way."

So cold, her words were!_ But why couldn't I get a little mad at that? _If anyone else would have snapped at me like that, I would have given them a piece of my mind before storming off. _I mean, really-_

"At least for now." She added softly, stopping my internal rant as quick as lightning. _Oh, well maybe that's why. _My head swam in a muddled mess all of a sudden. Miss Elsa de Cordova was _such _a mystery! First she's cold and distant, glaring at me, then she's letting me look at her gloves and then not talking to me for awhile, she acts jealous, snaps at me and now? _Sweet Odin! _So many different hats, faces..._what's the word I'm looking for. _

We were well past the bridge, we'd released each other's arms and I was still wracking my brain for a more accurate word for the many emotions Elsa showed. _'At least for now?' What did that mean? Did it mean anything at all? She wasn't two-faced, no, bi-polar? No, that's terrible-_ Someone nudged by me and when I managed to look up, I found that we had wandered into the main square. People bustled by us, jolting either of us into the other or temporarily separating us for a few moments until my eyes caught a particular poster and at the same time, the word I'd been thinking about revealed itself.

"A Fractal!" I declared, causing Elsa to jump a bit at my outburst.

"I believe the title is _Bears." _She offered, looking at the same item I was, though I wasn't really paying attention to the movie poster right then. Elsa didn't have a slew of emotions, rather her behavior was like a sort of re-occurring pattern: she started out mean (cold and distant), then sorry (quiet and guilty), and then nice (charming and positively attractive.) Repeat a few times and that was how she was! _Fractal, almost a frozen fractal if you ask me. Like a Snowflake._

"I-I know, this is a movie I've been dying to see." Satisfied with my discovery, I slipped back into the real world. "Bears are sort of my thing you know." I added cheekily.

"You mentioned a fractal?" She crossed her arms infront of her, ignoring the few people that excused themselves around her. "What about it?"

_Uh-oh, did she know I was comparing her personality to a snowflake? A fractal? _I laved at my dry lips and shuffled my feet a little awkwardly. _Well, what was the worst she could do? Where is she in her pattern...I surmise she's still in the 'sorry' stage. _"I-I was a big geometry nerd in high school." I started, chancing an explanation. "A fractal is basically a detailed pattern that repeats itself, regardless if it's split into parts, that same exact pattern is like a reduced size of the original shape. The best and probably less complicated way I can translate it is-" _you. _"A-a snowflake." I cleared my throat, mentally slapping myself for my internal hiccup that would have caused further explaining.

Her icy blue eyes narrowed a little as she digested whatever came out of my sporty mouth and I couldn't help but take a little pride in knowing, o-or remembering that bit of information. Geometry really _was _fun for me, all jokes aside.

"Snow." She mused dryly, on the verge of disgust and I raised my brows at her.

"What, you don't like snow?" I asked, happy to get away from possibly blurting my mind.

"I think its quite depressing." Her tone was apathetic and when I looked to her, she didn't even make eye-contact. In fact, she looked a little distraught at the topic, like it got to her on some other level. I tilted my head in wonder. _That's a first. She's like..the epitome of snow! Is that another fear of hers? _My eyes beheld her elegant features, her distinct porcelain skin, her pretty hair that shimmered like a blanket of snow on a moonlit night, she was tall and her fine feminine body...she was perfect! _Wait, what did that have to do with winter- no, snow?_

"I-I don't think it is." I objected, straightening a bit when she did bring her eyes back to mine. Winter just happened to be my favorite season, regardless that my birthday was in June. Since we hadn't exactly broken eye-contact, I could tell she wanted to ask _why _so I continued. "I think everything about December is absolutely gorgeous! The way the snow blankets everything, turning them into marshmallows, the cuddling next to fires, hot chocolate, the songs-"

"It also kills everything. The snow." She mumbled indignantly but I was already on a roll. My optimism easily exceeding her own flippant attitude.

"Taking it out of context, sure. With an ice cold eye we see the more logical _boring, _yes-everything-about-that-month-is-dreary,way." I snorted, leaning against the wall as she watched me with clear amusement evident in her wide blue eyes. "Tell me, Miss Elsa. When the snow melts, what does it become?"

"Water." She answered right away and sarcastically at that, along with a roll of her eyes.

"See what I mean? Bo-oring!" I threw my hands up dramatically, gaining a few by-standers' attention. Since I had their curious eyes on me too, I turned and asked them the same question, which they answered with the same irony Elsa had. _People have no imagination nowadays. _So said the taller hunkier dude that was most likely updating his statuses, looking arrogantly impatient.

"What does it become then, Not-boring-person?" The other girl asked, probably more intrigued than Elsa and the the guy put together, but her excitement only aided in my own goofiness.

"It becomes Spring!" I gave them a 'duh' gesture. "Which means that _when _everything dies, it comes back to life and the heavier the snow, the more vibrant Spring is." With my nose in the air, I nodded proudly at Elsa who had the smallest of smirks tugging at her ruby lips.

"That's..." the girl with the honey colored eyes bit her lip, mulling that answer over.

"Lame? What are you on?" Her guy quipped and she slapped his shoulder harshly, even Elsa straightened a bit, glaring at the guy.

"I-" I stepped in instead "am on a special blend of chocolate ice cream. If you'd like some, I suggest Vanillope's. Order a Mudslide and I swear you'll be on the same level as me in to time at all." I said coolly watching as his bored sky blue eyes livened a bit. "That's right. The _awesome _level." Grinning at him, I waited for his next comment.

"Right, as if I'm not already there, oh whimsical one." He leaned in confidently while the girls grew cautious, ready to assert themselves at a moment's notice. "We _both _know that 'snow' question was from a certain Anime." Now it was his turn to cross his arms as he flashed his pearly whites at me. _I knew he wasn't some bump on a log!_

"Anna Michaels." I chuckled, holding out my hand to him victoriously. Elsa relaxed and so did the girl next to him.

"Adam Beiste and this is my girlfriend Belle Turner." Adam then turned my hand and pulled it to his lips to place a kiss to my knuckles. _How chivalrous! _Regardless of his other half also smiling warmly at me, I had to fight a blush that wanted to appear on my face as I gingerly took my hand back with a nervous chuckle.

"Echanté." Belle shook my hand and acknowledged Elsa as well. Seeing that polite gesture made my consciousness kick me and I looked to the one I'd been walking with, sheepishly. _How rude of me!_

"Elsa de Cordova." She saved me by offering the barest ghost of a smile and her name while Adam and Belle nodded at her.

"Nice to meet the two of you, but we gotta split." Adam apologized "but we should definitely meet up again sometime, it's not everyday I meet someone who enjoys the grown-up, more artistic version of cartoons."

"And it's not everyday I meet a _guy _who watches in-depth, somewhat _girlie _stories such as _Fruits Basket, _but hey, I don't discriminate." I shrugged and waved to them as they got swallowed up by the passing sea of lunch-seekers.

With a satisfied grin on my face, I turned back to see my roomie looking at the selection of movies that lined up on the wall. _I hope that didn't make her uncomfortable. _I had no problem meeting new people, enjoyed it even, but if it made her uneasy.._then I guess we'll have to hang out more. _There was a lot I didn't know about her and vice-versa, though I had the suspicion that I wasn't that hard to read and I wasn't, honestly.

"Are you okay with watching that with me?" I asked going to stand next to her. "O-or would you prefer to watch something-" my eyes suddenly dropped to where her hands were nervously fidgeting and I felt like a douche bag for even asking. Someone like her probably didn't go near a theater! There were dirty carpets, soda spills, sticky cup holders and it was always cold but- _oh man! _I'd never put any thought into the germs that came with a the usual one-hundred plus minute escape from reality that was a movie. "Uh- hey w-wait!" As she was walking toward the ticket booth I stupidly reached out and caught her glove.

It surprisingly slid right off her slender wrist and I froze as my eyes widened in slight shock. Standing where I was, I held it like a piece of breakable something while my eyes caught the sight of her now bare right hand and then zooming in to the scar that marred the smooth skin of her forearm. My breath stinted when I heard her gasp too. Elsa immediately turned back around, making me take a quick step back as a flurry of emotions flashed in those blue pools with the biggest being fear. "Give me my glove." She demanded.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't think it would-" I shut up when she snatched it from my outstretched hand and secured it back on her own hand with a breath of relief. _Okay, biiig no-no there. _I chewed my inner cheek nervously as she once again composed herself before bringing her eyes back to me. If I were a coward, I would have shrunk under her gaze and I had the feeling that _that_ was what she was thinking I'd do too but when I stood firm, she blinked in surprise. That wasn't the reaction she was used to, but sheesh, it wasn't like I was going to run away from her when she was as insecure as she was. _What kind of roomie would I be? I was the one that dragged you out here. _But if it was indeed _her _that ran away then, well, I'd still have to follow so she didn't run back to that dogforsaken park or so she wouldn't get lost.

Elsa stayed quiet for a second more, looking everywhere but at me until a guy on a skateboard caught her attention and mine. _What the- _his speed was a little too fast and people voiced their distaste at his stupidity. It would have been fine (sort of) had his front wheel _not _jammed against a rock, thus sending him flying directly to Elsa and I. Everything slowed when I saw Elsa's eyes widen in a twist of shock and fear as she jumped at me. Since I was standing closer to the street, my protective instincts kicked in and instead of letting her save me, I reached out, catching her and successfully twisting us around in the off-chance we'd land in the street. My small victory was short-lived, however, when my feet turned clumsy at the last second and we tumbled to the ground.

"Owwie, what the- E-Elsa are you okay? I-I didn't mean to-" icy blue eyes opened from under me "squish...you?" _S-she has freckles too. _Her frosty scent infiltrated my nostrils as my brain registered just how _close_ we were. Well, I was on top of- _uh-oh I'm on top of her! _That thought alone should have been enough to send me flying backwards with a myriad of apologies, but why couldn't I move? It was like I was stuck there staring at her pretty eyes, her straight delicate nose that had faint traces of freckles on it and to my surprise, her full, cupid's arrow naturally rosy lips. I noticed these features before (except her freckles) but seeing them an inch away from my own face had me blushing suddenly. Those lips parted like she wanted to say something but my mind blanked. I felt completely hypnotized and that aided in my slow descent toward her mouth.

"A-Anna-" Elsa's voice resounded in my ears, but I'd already closed enough space to make anyone uncomfortable. It was like I was being drawn to her, to those lips and there was nothing I could do about it. Her breath was cool against my lips, making me remember the way her skin felt when I'd wiped ice cream off of it and also making me wonder if her lips felt like that too. I was well on my way to finding out, if anything.

"Are you two okay?" Another voice asked, finally snapping sense back into me. Like I'd been slapped, I jumped back and was surprised to see a few snowflakes swirling around us. _Did the forecast call for snow? _I didn't have time to think longer on that as Elsa wiggled out from under me. I hadn't felt the cold until she stood up and looked down at me. Right into my eyes. A gust of cold bit at my face scant moments before she turned away from me to shove through the crowd that had gathered around us.


	7. Running Backwards

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>Waving the guy that asked if we were okay off, I was up and running after my retreating roommate. "Elsa! H-hold on, you're going the wrong-" I'd just come up behind her when she stopped abruptly, causing me to almost crash into her. Luckily I managed to stop in the nic of time.<p>

"Did you not understand when I told you _not _to court me?" Elsa suddenly snapped.

My eyes widened in surprise. "I-I'm not trying to!" I defended, now in slight confusion while also trying not to cower from her glare. "That- whatever that was- was in the heat of the moment, the last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable-" I stopped right then as her brow raised in a mixture of anger and another emotion I couldn't put a name to.

"So, you think the weird guy at Vanillope's, those damned dogs at the park, and all of these people in this crowded little square. You think all of that doesn't make me uncomfortable?" She asked incrediously, like I hadn't been there beside her, walking her through each and every one of those incidences, that whole time.

"Elsa I-I wasn't aware that-" I stuttered to a stop when she snapped at some other passer-by who raised his hands in surrender as he then gave Elsa a wide birth before quickly walking away. Biting my lip, I couldn't help but feel hurt at the cold look she suddenly gave when she turned back to face me. I swear, she eminated coldness like a freezer.

"Oh, well don't worry, you're doing a _very _good job so far." She accused icily. It felt like she'd punched me right in the heart and I actually took a step back a little anxiously. _I-I don't get it. What did I ever do to you?! _Tears threatened to spill from my eyes but I stayed as firm as I could in the face of utter rejection.

"Okay then. Sorry for trying to be your friend." I said brokenly, taking another step back. Her jaw tightened in apprehension when I did. "Sorry for the stupid guy at the stupid ice cream place, for taking you to that stupid park with all the stupid dogs, for making you feel the most uncomfortable you've probably ever felt in your entire life, sorry for being a horrible roommate who only wanted to talk to you, oh and I'm sorry I almost kissed you." This time I turned away mainly because my tears became evident, sliding down my left cheek. Never before had I been in such turmoil with my emotions. It was something I wasn't used to but unlike me, she did _nothing _to comfort me or ease me through it. _Maybe I am too nice for my own good..._

"Anna-" her low voice brought me back and I forced the tears away.

"T-the campus is _that _way." I hiccuped, pointing in the opposite direction she was headed with my face still turned away. "I'll be back later." I added. _Not like you really care anyway. _Without another word, I took a few steps away from her but a sudden gentle breeze stopped me. It wasn't the harsh, meaningful, rather odd gusts I'd been feeling all day, it was natural, like the elements themselves breathed around me, reminding me of who I was. I took a deep breath and looked back to see Elsa's eyes fill with sudden sorrow. I briefly wondered if I should wait and see if she did apologize but then my own anger once again flared a bit, regardless of that earlier feeling. Perhaps Elsa was just one who would never trust anyone to get too close to her, but my goodness, she didn't have to take it out on me!

"I-" she tried to say something and leaned forward a bit as if she meant to take a step toward me. That gesture alone made me linger a bit longer than I'd originally intended..

"I forgive you." I straightened a bit, not wanting to provoke her further. "i-it was foolish of me to drag you out here without your full permission-"

"Do you _want_ to kiss me?" She asked quietly, completely changing subjects and my head spun like a tilt-a-whirl. _W-w-what?! _My mind reeled, instantly trying to find where she was in her pattern. _K-kiss her? Me? Where did that come from? Is she trying to- is that her apology? _I turned all the way around to face her once more.

"E-excuse me? But what happened to no courting?!" _Heh, how does a kiss count as that?_

"I'm sorry." She finally relented. "I didn't mean to run you into the ground like that." Self-consciously, she turned to the side rubbing her left shoulder in a calming motion. More snow flurries swirled around as she inched toward the side of the street where less people were walking. "I know you had no romantic intentions and I would be lying if I said these past few hours with you have been boring."

Regardless of her somewhat melancholic mood, I still hesitated. And why not? I had already begun to make my exit when she switched gears once more and now I felt like I was stuck on a tight-rope. The way I saw it, I had two options. Option one: stay and hear the rest of her explanation- apology? or two: continue to walk away like some cold-hearted witch. Naturally, I followed her, making sure no one got between us, lest she lash out at the poor unsuspecting fool who managed to. _Oh, Anna, you're such a sucker! What if she's just saying this stuff to lure you into an allyway so she can finally go off on you? _Even as I thought that, I couldn't help but feel drawn to her.

Once we got into said ally, she leaned heavily against the wall with an equally heavy sigh, like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. I stood there a for a second more, debating on what to do. This girl would more than likely cower away from the normal ways I reacted to such dejectedness, which was...touch. _nobody likes to be alone. _At least I hoped that mantra of mine still rang true.

"I just didn't know how to react." She said distantly. "Friends have never been a part of my life. I'm used to being alone and then _you _come along-" she looked at me from under her fringe and I couldn't help but snort.

"Did I mess up the pattern you're so used to following?" I asked a little more harshly than I intended.

"Yes. I was comfortable with the way I was living-"

"In a box." I interjected. "You're so guarded, so closed off and I only wished to get to know you more."

"Why?" She then glared at me and I found myself asking me that same question. _Yeah why, Anna? _I pushed off from the wall, fixing her with my own hard stare.

Elsa tried to keep up her tough act but as I leaned in, she cowered a bit. _Wait_, _why_ _am I leaning in? _For the life of me, I couldn't figure out _why _I'd been dying to get to know her. Maybe it was because we were roommates? Because she refused to talk to me? Perhaps it was because out of all the people I'd ever met, _she _was the only one who didn't warm up to me? My eyes widened suddenly. _It has been well over a few months. _Regardless, this was the first time I really got to talk to her, well since our assignment but even then, I still had no memory of that day.

"I don't know." I answered truthfully after continuing to stare at her longer than she was probably used to.

"Then don't stare at me." She muttered.

"Holy cram, you baffle me so much!" I stamped my foot like a five-year-old, finally glaring at her. "Your mood swings are confusing, you're kinda mean, and just a complete mystery-" I watched her eyes widen in surprise. "And yet I _want _to stay by you, I _want _to get to know you, I _like _you!"

We gasped at the same time when I declared that. _Wait what? Like as in like? Or like, like-LIKE?! _My head swam once more as I did what she told me not to. Looking into her icy orbs made me bite my lip in utter confusion. She then pushed off the wall to get in my face with a hardened expression.

"Don't fall for me." She growled and I swear her breath frosted the tip of my nose. There was something about her. Something not normal, well, she was exeptionally extraordinary, as was every other person in their own way, but Elsa was on a whole other level. Like she had a certain power over things and they could bend at her will.

I wouldn't.

When she again turned away from me to walk away, I reached out to catch her hand. And once again her glove slipped right off. She snapped back around with clear annoyed anger in her eyes.

"Give me my glove!" She snarled, reaching for it, but I stepped back.

"I can't say that I _won't _fall for you." I stated, holding her glove just out of her reach. _What am I saying?! She's definitely going to hate me now. _Still, I held on to a little ray of hope when her eyes widened for a split second before they turned cold. So cold, I felt another short gust of wind surrounding me and I refused to shiver, to back down.

"You're making a _big_ mistake, Michaels." She reached for the glove again and I held it behind me.

"Am I? What's wrong with saying that I like you?" I asked, keeping my teeth from chattering by clenching my jaw until it started to get sore.

"Stop it. Give me my damn glove!"

"I like you Elsa de Cordova." _Where was this coming from? Do I really like her like that? ...yes._

"Dammit Anna." Her voice lost a fraction of its edge and she threw her hands up exasperatedly before turning on her heel and walking away from me, forgetting about her glove altogether.

"You like me too don't you?" I hurried after her despite the sudden snow flurries that danced around my face. "There's an obvious pull between us!" Or was I oblivious to it? Was I mistaking empathy for feelings that were a little foreign to me? I'd honestly never had any sort of feelings for anyone. I was too busy caring for my single dad, with school, I'd never had any free time until now and she just happened to be there.

"Enough." She growled, glancing back at me but still walking away. No, there in those icy depths, I could see that she was afraid and that was enough to push me further. If liking someone met that I felt like my heart was faltering every time they looked at me, that butterflies swirled like snowflakes in my stomach, if I felt warm in the instances that we touched...yes. I liked her.

"I-is it something I did?" I began to grow irritated at her and my erratic behavior. "Because I don't ever remember hurting you in _any _possible way, other than probably stating my feelings. Why do you shut me out? What are you so afraid of?!" I only wanted an answer.

"I said _enough!_" Elsa yelled and in a slight anger tantrum, swept her arm infront of her as she abruptly turned back around as if that gesture alone would stop me. It did, but not the way I was expecting it would.

My shocked eyes beheld an ice manifestation of spikes that instantly surrounded Elsa, closing her off from me. I gasped, not believing that that had just happened. _Wha- _still in a daze, I looked up to see Elsa's own eyes widen in so much fear, shame and horror that I instictively made a move to comfort her, despite the ice wall between us. The snow that had been gently falling began to fall more heavily and as I foolishly reached out, my forearm got caught on one of the points and it cut right through my skin, making me hiss and I saw tears escape from the platinum blonde's pretty blue eyes.

"Elsa- ELSA!" I didn't have time to react as she suddenly fled, crashing through the nosy crowd that had gathered around the ally. _Think Anna, where would she go? _Since the spikes were sharp enough to cut with a glance, not to mention how thick the wall was, I couldn't get through it even if I wanted to.

Ignoring my bloody forearm, I clenched my roommate's glove and sprinted in the opposite direction of the ice. I hated that I hadn't caught up to her before she made that wall. _What's wrong with me? Shouldn't I be scared out of my mind?! _It wasn't everyday that I ran into someone so...so..._unique!_ No, she wasn't a freak, I wasn't afraid of her. I may have felt a little sorry for her, but only because I was a sympathetic person, though I couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through her head at that particular moment. All I knew was that I needed to find her, catch her before she did something bad.

"ELSA!" I bellowed once I managed to scramble back around the building infront of the ice wall. _Where did you go? _I frantically grabbed the first person to my right "did you see which way she went?!" The guy shook his head fervently. _Fudge! _"Did anybody see which way she went?!" I asked, but found it futile, seeing as the snow turned into a slight blizzard, obscuring everyone's view.

"I think she went that way." Said a girl that strangely looked like Gerda from earlier that morning, but I couldn't be too sure because of the sudden blizzard. Regardless, I thanked her and ran back toward the school.

Surprisingly, the work-out I'd been getting from ascending and descending that dreaded hill to Thropp hall, made my stamina increase and also my legs were more toned than when they had been since I stopped fencing regularly. I was probably in the best shape of my life at the moment and that only aided in propelling me onward with little resistence. I flew past the park and Vanillope's until there was a flash of white in the corner of my eye. Skidding to a stop, I saw platinum blonde running toward a water fountain. _Crazy girl there are a ton of people down that way!_

"Elsa, wait!" I yelled, dodging a car that blared its horn at me. I gave them an _I'm sorry_ wave before continuing to that fountain. She must have heard me because she had turned around. "Hey, it's alright, I-I'm not-"

"Don't..." she whimpered, backing up slowly like a wounded, frightened animal. Her eyes fell to where my hand was still clutching her glove and from the way she choked on a sob, I could tell she'd seen my bloody arm. It wasn't _that _bad, but the fact that the ice had caught the more sensitive flesh, it bled a little more than was necessary.

"Elsa? I-its just a scratch." I tried to console her but all I managed to do was push her further back until her bare hand unexpectantly touched the side of the fountain, thus freezing that too. The crowd that had gathered around us gasped when the freely flowing water suddenly turned to ice right before their eyes.

"Holy shit!" One of the girls exclaimed, jumping away from Elsa who frantically looked from her to everyone and then to me for a short second before she again pushed through the crowd.

"I-ice tricks people! How awesome is that?" I laughed half-heartily before following right behind her and to my surprise, some people actually cheered. "ELSA!" This time I caught sight of her running in the direction of the university. My legs churned and before I knew it, I'd caught up to her and didn't hesitate to reach out to catch her wrist. "Stop running from me!" I gasped. "If you're scared just _tell _me so I can help you!"

Elsa wrenched her hand away from my grip and stared incrediously at me, like she couldn't believe I was still there. I would be there, even if she did everything in her power to push me away. She was so lonely and frightened under all her petty facade, I wondered how she'd gone so long in isolation. There was a reason I was so drawn to her even though I barely knew her, it was established that first day we saw each other. I was meant to be her roommate.

"Please, just stay away from me." She bit her lip so hard, I could see the redness she inflicted on her lower lip through the thick snowflakes and she immediately wrapped her arms around herself. Tentatively I brought my uninjured hand up to touch her shaky arm. _I am not going to hurt you. _Too bad she couldn't read my mind.

"I'm sorry, I-I just-" I didn't get to finish my sentence as she then yanked me to her, crashing our lips together with such force, our teeth clacked together harshly and I yelped. For a second there it seemed as if the storm calmed, just a fraction as she smoothed that impact over with a more gentle kiss in apology. Her frosty scent filled my nose, which was strangely refreshing and it made me dizzy from head to toe. Her lips, her very being eminated a sense of coolness, was like she was made of..._snow_.

She ripped herself away, taking a few frightened steps back from me with a surprised look on her face. My head was spinning and we were both out of breath, not to mention stunned at what just happened, but I still hadn't exactly let go of her hand yet. Bringing my eyes from where my hand was gripping her wrist, up to her shocked blue eyes, I couldn't stop myself from tugging her back to me so I could reconnect our lips. _Her lips are so soft and they feel so nice. _My eyes slid shut as she eventually kissed back and I saw Koch Snowflakes explode behind my eyelids.

"A-Anna, I-I can't-" she broke away once more and ducked her head in shame.

"I'm not afraid of you, Elsa." My voice was as soft as the falling snow as I tried to soothe her, while I reached up to gently cup her face. "You can never make me-"

"Hey, Anna!" A male voice called out from behind us and I stiffened. _Uh-oh. Not now Kai! _I watched her slowly calming eyes harden once more as she snapped those eyes behind me. I felt the air grow thick once more and I turned to the taller guy that was now jogging toward us.

"Kai, w-wait, stay right-" I tried to stop him but when I felt an odd pressure sort of kick me forward, I saw a blast of snow shoot directly into the dark-haired boy's chest. He let out a surprised grunt and fell to his knees as Elsa gasped behind me. _O-oh no, Kai- Elsa! _I turned back around to see her completely horrified face. "E-Elsa-"

"S-stay away from me." Her voice was unbearably hollow and it broke my heart. "Please, Anna, I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't run away." I whispered brokenly, reaching my hand out to her but something kept my feet firmly in place. "Please."

"I'm sorry." She whimpered and tears finally fell from her eyes as her face twisted in pain.

"Els-" not caring about what she'd just told me, I jumped for her. She couldn't leave because I knew if I let her, there was no telling of where she would go and I had a sick feeling in my stomach that she wouldn't be there when I got back. I sobbed when my arms grasped thin air and as the blizzard multiplied, I lost sight of the platinum blonde.


	8. Never Again

**Disclaimer: I own Nothing.**

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><p>The pain I felt in that instant when my arms wrapped around thin air and not her was so frightening that I almost toppled over in desperation. Seeing her disappear before my eyes, like she became the snow herself, it left me feeling like she'd taken something from me and she most definitely did.<p>

Elsa stole my heart and ran away with it.

My crying didn't subside as I physically forced myself to stay and not chase after her, so I could tend to the now unconsious boy behind me. "Ambu- someone call an ambulance!" I choked out as I fell to my knees beside Kai. My own hands fumbled for my cell-phone and when they eventually grasped it, my lame, cold fingers allowed it to slip between them. I let out a frustrated growl as I picked the pieces back up so I could eventually turn the stupid thing back on. _Elsa..._ I sniffled, allowing the cold to consume me and I shivered harshly. _How did it come to this? _

Her frosty scent and her sweet taste lingered heavily on my senses when the tears fell from my eyes like the equally gently falling snowflakes around the less crowded ally that we'd ended up in. _Elsa._ _I'm caught in your wonderfully deep cruelan colored eyes. Lost in your beautiful, completely extraordinary name and now I will never be the same. _Clutching her glove to me, I forgot about calling. _A day. It only look a day for me to fall for you completely. A day for Your own heart to call out to mine saying "keep me, let me go!"_

A sense of longing pulled at me, whispering and saying that if I didn't find her soon, I would go mad. As much as I wanted to go after her, I needed to make sure Kai was okay. I wasn't sure of what exactly happened to him, but whatever did was enough to scare the life out of her and not to mention that eariler shove I'd felt-

"Don't fret Miss. I've already gone ahead and called." A kind gentleman said, politely offering me his jacket and a tissue as he then rubbed comforting circles on my shoulder. Suddenly, I remembered that I hadn't even done that and I felt like crap for forgetting. _Forgive me Kai._ Whether the guy saw what had happened or not was irrelevant as he gave me a soothing smile and said nothing more about it as he waited with me until the ambulance showed up.

"What happened here?" One of them asked when they pulled the gurney out.

"I'm not sure." I croaked. "I just turned and he was on the ground." It wasn't a complete lie, but I wasn't about to start in on something even _I _didn't understand. I just needed some time to think about where Elsa would go before I lost my sense to total desperation and wound up doing something stupid. There was absolutely no way she was back at Thropp Hall. I knew that much.

As they loaded Kai into the back, I gave the kind Sir his jacket back and thanked him for it and for calling. He patted my head with a smile on his face and turned to the busy street, telling people to get on with their lives. "Will you be joining?" The woman asked me and when she saw my arm, her eyes turned determined as she gestured for me to get in. I didn't argue, but I also didn't hesitate to put Elsa's glove on my own hand, well, on the opposite hand since I had her right glove and it was my right forearm that was cut. Either way, they were not about to take it away from me.

The vehicle rattled around us as they rushed us to the hospital and I finally began to grow concerned about what was going on. "Is he going to be okay?" I asked, leaning over to look at his masculine face. The same face I'd witnessed in my dream come to life. Turning from horrid to angelic. _Oh, Kai. Please be alright._ I bit my lip nervously when I saw a flash of green as his eyes fluttered and I put a hand to his chest, but froze when I felt just how _cold_ it was.

"Anna?" He said groggily, venturing to open his eyes. My words, whatever they may have been, got stuck in my throat as my hands splayed over the spot they were in. _H-his chest...like ice- _"What the hell's with your hair?" He asked suddenly, making me jerk my hand back in surprise. "It's all weird."

Not missing the retort in his voice, I was compelled to bring the side of my hair I knew already had a streak of white in it, into view. I gasped when my shocked eyes beheld a now thicker stripe of pale blonde in the midst of red. _What- _"Nice hair, Rogue." Kai chuckled hautily, making me look from said hair to him in bewilderment. I might not have known him that long, but I was aware that he was acting different. I could see it in the way he was looking at me, his hardened eyes and sudden arrogant attitude had me sit a little straighter.

"Does it look bad?" I asked, wanting to see and hear the way he answered.

"Would you prefer a lie or the truth?" He grinned condencendingly at me when he answered with his own question. I couldn;t help but gape at him. _This is Kai Andersen, isn't it?_

"I-it doesn't look bad at all." The other guy said, seeming to pick up on our conflicting emotions.

Kai then rolled his eyes, snorting a 'whatever' before closing his eyes once more. Still in shock, I yelped when the other lady suddenly took my arm and turned it so she could tend to the cut. _That was weird!_ _He was so sweet the other day._ I thought before hissing at the sting of my wound getting cleaned. She murmured an apology and continued until she wrapped a bandage around it.

* * *

><p><em>'It reflects the ugly in one's heart.' Soft blue eyes found themselves at the forefront of my mind. I was eight again, in my mother's arms and she was telling me a most likely made up story of hers about a two way ice-mirror. A mirror that had been made from the self hatred of the one who was burdened with such a curse. 'They saw themselves as wretched beings for never being able to love something without completely destroying it, so with frozen hearts they made the mirror so they could corrupt the world and further bask in their misery.' She failed to mention a gender, be there one, but I wasn't concerned with that at the moment.<em>

_'Why? There has to be someone who wouldn't care about the curse, right?' I asked in child-like wonder. Surely there had to be a way to melt the ice that had incased that heart. Perhaps I'd just watched too many light-hearted fairytales and was searching for that happy ending?_

_'Yes. Of course there is, my sweet.' She whispered, leaning in to kiss my forehead. 'But, only an act of True Love can thaw a frozen heart.' _

_'True Love?' Again, my eight-year old mind failed to fully understand that, but my mother, as patient as ever, explained just what that was and what it meant. She always explained. She was the smartest woman I'd ever known and when she died, I thought I did too._

_Until I met the one person she'd been telling me about._

"Miss...Miss?" A feminine voice called to me, pulling me from that memory and back into the present.

"Yes?" I asked, bringing my eyes up to the nurse that had been examining Kai once we got to the hospital. "Is he going to be okay?" It all felt so surreal, my emotions were off and I wasn't reacting to things right away. _Was I going to be okay?_

"Unfortunantly I can't say, but he seems fine for now. We'll know more once the doctor comes." She nodded at me and left the room. I stared at the door a minute longer before I got up to go to Kai's bed. It still baffled me, the way he suddenly switched up attitudes on me. _Like..._my hand found itself on his chest and sure enough, it was cold still.

"Ger...da...dummy..." I looked from my hand to his face as he repeated the same phrase a few more times. _Gerda? Dummy? I guess I'm not the only one?_ His features softened once more as a half a smile crossed his lips. "My Gerda."

_Gerda...as in Vanillope's Gerda? _I wondered for a moment until I felt a sudden chill and when I looked back to Kai, his eyes were opened but dazed as he stared at the ceiling. Leaning in for a closer look instantly had me wanting to run away screaming. For, in his left eye was the smallest fleck of ice lodged. I knew what it was because I could strangely see it clearly, like it was magnified in my own eyes and I gulped in a myriad of emotions with the biggest being panic. What was I going to do?!

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><p><span>Elsa.<span>

_'The snow glows white on the mountain tonight' _on a rocky outcrop, high above a range of mountain peaks a lone pale blonde figure trudged through the snow, completely immersed in her own guilt, fear and pain.

_'Not a footprint to be seen.' _It had been snowing fairly bad when she arrived there at the foot of that mountain, but as she gradually climbed higher, so did the flakes thicken, only to give way more toward the top.

_'A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen.' _Trees also gave way at the top, so it seemed as if she were truly alone. It was quite the sight though, through the gleam of the moon, the snow lightened up the peaks and the very ground she walked on. Though, not even the birds sang as the snow died down altogether.

_'The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside' _Why would birds sing then? As her mood dipped further, her power- her curse, began to stir. Thus, the wind of her own whipped platinum locks all over the place, leading the girl to braid it in to a heavy plait so she didn't have to deal with it anymore.

_'Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried.'_ She refused to think of what she ran away from, but even so, her icy blue eyes dropped to her unsheathed hand when it came up to rub her shoulders. Those same eyes found the scar _she'd_ been so curious about. _She. _Anna Michaels. The redheaded happy-go-lucky girl she'd noticed on that first day before they even met.

_'Don't let them in, don't let them see.'_ The way Anna reacted to that outburst, the way others did. She didn't particularly care about them though. What mattered was the fact that she had lost her temper and did the one thing she never even dreamed would happen.

_'Be the good girl you always have to be' _The soft taste of Anna's lips presented itself on her tongue, making a shiver coarse down her spine unbidden. The girl confused her so much. Never before had she been so conflicted about any one person.

_'Conceal, don't feel. Don't let them know'_ She'd been told that when she was younger and it became her mantra all the way up until she met the younger girl. Sighing heavily, she thought of the way Anna smelt. Like cherries on a warm summer day. It had Elsa wanting to taste more of her. The platinum blonde knew that from the first moment they shared ice cream. How soft, yet firm her body felt...

_'Well, now they know.' _She wanted Anna. With widened, disgusted eyes, she turned away as if to escape her naughty thoughts, ripping the other glove off and letting the strong winds carry it off to wherever it so pleased.

_'Let it go. Let it go.' _Elsa watched her fingers form small bursts of ice that disolved when she allowed them to. She so wished to disolve the images and feelings of the redhead and for the redhead.

_'Can't hold it back anymore.' _Deciding to distract herself further, her fingers expertly twisted, twirling elegantly and before her eyes, a snowman appeared. It was an exact replica of the one she made with her brother on his last night alive.

_'Let it go. Let it go.' _Seeing the little piles of stacked snow brought back more pleasant memories than bad and for the first time in a long time, she managed a smile.

_'Turn away and slam the door.' _Upturning her palms, she watched in awe as more of her snow and ice shot into the dark sky. With a turn of her hands, it fell to join the rest of the snow already on the ground.

_'I don't care, what they're going to say.' _Her mood was beginning to lift. Thoughts of the redhead were still in the back of her mind, but she was getting caught up in her own excitement about finally being able to release and use her powers.

_'Let the storm rage on.' _One last gust of wind, as if it were bidding her farewell for now, kissed her face and with it, managed to rip her headband from her silky hair as well.

_'The cold never bothered me anyway.' _She breathed a sigh of relief as her fingers pushed her hair back.

_'It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small' _By now, her mood had changed completely and her feet now carried her more, dare she say it? Happily- no, optomistically forward.

_'And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all.' _Looking back at the progress she made, she only saw snow covered mountains, no one was chasing her, she was her own and it was very liberating. Nothing she'd ever felt before.

_'It's time to see what I can do. To test the limits and break through.' _With renewed vigor, she she thrust her hands forward, imagining the beginnings of a step ladder at the gap that sat just below the actual tip of the mountain.

_'No right, no wrong, no rules for me.' _The snow did as she wished and as she ran up to it and placed her foot on the first step, the snow dispersed and gave way to ice.

_'I'm free' _Another genuine smile erupted across her face as she then held out her arms, making each step and railing as she practically skipped upwards.

_'Let it go. Let it go.' _Her ice was delicate, intricate. She'd always been one for a sort of order.

_'I am one with the wind and sky' _Though now, she really didn't care. Even as the ice itself manifested perfectly under her commanding fingers.

_'Let it go. Let it go.' _Finally where she wanted to be, she gazed up to the gorgeous point and in a moment of slight goofiness, she twirled around.

_'You'll never see me cry.' _Now her face began to ache from the seemingly permanent grin on her lips but she cared not. For once she was genually happy.

_'Here I stand and here I'll stay.' _Her foot stamped the snow covered ground thus causing ice shards to form under her and with her arms raising, so did the ever transforming ice.

_'Let the storm rage on.' _Starting from a snowflake she'd seen Anna drawing, an idiotic grin fixed her face as she built on that idea, that joy, that redhead's warmth.

_'My power flurries through the air and to the ground' _It may have been built around the girl she'd fallen for, but the ice itself, reflected what Elsa herself felt and it exceeded everything she'd ever done.

_'My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around.'_ A chandelier dipped from the high ceiling as she danced around, adjusting, reforming her ice into what appeared to be a castle of sorts. In the few months that she attended University, she'd done her own research on buildings. After all, her major had been Achitecture.

_'And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast:'_ She paused once her work was almost complete so she could take in the entirety of it all. It was perfect.

_'I'm never going back. The past is in the past.' _This was it. The last step before she shed that life she left so fervently. A tiny pause of apprehension and uncertainy crossed her face, but as she shed her cardigan, all dispersed when she tossed it away.

_'Let it go. Let it go' _In the ice refelction, she saw how she was supposed to be. How she was supposed to act, who she would evidently become and she wasn't afraid. She would never be afraid again.

_' And I'll rise like the break of dawn.'_ With a swipe of her hands, her own clothes began to transform. Her mortal coils loosened it seemd and she let out a giggle at the ridiculous thought.

_'Let it go. Let it go.' _Now she was dressed in an elegant ice gown that fit her like a second skin. It was something she wouldn't dare catch herself wearing for fear that she'd reveal too much and catch the eyes of the unwanted. Briefly she wondered how Anna would react if she ever saw it. Oh how she wanted to see that, but in the back of her mind, she believed she had made enough of an impact on the girl to keep her away.

_'That perfect girl is gone.' _Casting those impending thoughts aside, she strutted out on to the icy balcony in her new attitude.

_'Here I stand in the light of day.'_The rising sun highlighted everything, the snow, the world basking them in its light and it stole her breath away as it filtered through her ice castle. It was a brand new day.

_'Let the storm rage on.'_ She was a brand new girl.

_'The cold never bothered me anyway.' _The Snow Queen. As her mother before her, she finally accepted the title and swept elegantly back inside, away from the world. Shutting the icy doors behind her.


	9. Wonder

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p><em>I was still at a complete loss of words as to what I'd beheld in Kai's being and as soon as the doctor came, he didn't hesitate to kick me out, saying something about not being related and unable to relay any critical details unless I was. It only took me a split-second to be stunned and a little hurt from the way he implied that bit of information, but before I knew it, I was rushing out of the hospital. Once my shoes touched the pavement, I darted through the stoplight (apparently, jay-walking wasn't frowned upon here) either that or I didn't particularly care at the moment. My feet carried me directly back to Vanillope's. 'Great Scott, I'll be winning a bronze medal sooner than I think if I keep running everywhere!'<em>

_"Welcome!" A short black-haired girl chirpped from behind the register when I made my way to it. I was out of breath and weak with fatigue, not to mention in a fit of lonliness, but as I caught my breath, I noticed her cute little candy shaped berrets. "I must be doing pretty good if you're so worked up about ice-cream." She waggled her brows at me and I finally became capable of speech._

_"Gerda..." I only managed before wincing. Nope, I got a side cramp in the next instant._

_"Uh...I don't believe we have a Gerda flavored treat..." She looked thoughtful and then it dawned on her before I could further explain. "OH! You must mean the worker, Gerda Frostad. Yeah, she actually left not that long ago."_

_"Where? Do you know where she went?" I asked, deciding to try anything in order to settle the sudden chaos clamoring in my head. Kai had mentioned her name and Vanillope's Gerda was the only Gerda I knew so by Valhalla I'd find her and brashly ask if she had an idea of who Kai really was. It might have been a long-shot, but I was really just looking for someone to watch him while I tore our room apart for clues as to where Elsa would go._

_"I-" She hesitated "normally I would taunt you, but you look like you're having a bad day, so I'll give you this-" the girl snapped her fingers and this guy with insane forearms appeared out of nowhere and handed her- my innards clenched- when the Green Pistashio grinned menacingly back at me as she held it out for me to take. "It's on the house and Gerda goes to North Mountain University. I'd say- what's today, Saturday- she's probably... studying? What goes on there anyway?" She ended up asking the brown-haired man who only shrugged._

_"Thank you. Thank you so much-"_

_"Right, right. I'm Vanillope and this is Ralph, don't worry, he's a mountain but a big softie." She chortled and I almost dropped the cone.' She's the owner?! But she's so young!'_

_"Wow, I adore your Mudslide!" I instantly gushed and cursed my quick tongue in fear that I would start up a whole other conversation that had me here for the next four hours. 'I don't have any more time to lose!'_

_"Weren't you on a mission?" Ralph asked but it earned him a rough nudge to the ribs and a not-so-hushed comment about shutting up and taking the compliments, no matter how crazy the person seemed. I inwardly rolled my eyes at that. 'So much for the extra hours of Mudslide talk.'_

_"Yes! I definitely was- am." I held up the cone in farewell as I backed out of the shop. "Thanks again and it was nice to meet the two of you."_

_They waved as if waving to someone on their way to a Mental Institute, but I paid it no mind once I got back out into the street. The ice cream might have been free and I felt bad for letting it go to waste, but I could even think about eating at the moment so I planned to throw it away. Before I could though, I noticed a little boy crying over his own toppled cone. 'Oh, how perfect!' Wasting no time, I instantly knelt infront of him and offered mine. He stopped crying, wiped his tears, looked at his mother who nodded and gratefully took mine. A quick thanks and I was on my way once more._

_'Which library though, Tibbet? Zhul?' I stood at the crossroads, wondering which library she would be at if she would be at one at all. I usually studied with everyone either on the quad, or when it was Flynn and I- my head snapped toward Tibbet Library and I found myself running that way._

_As quietly as possible, I briskly walked through the scattered computers, searching for a honey-colored head of hair and when I found none, I dashed upstairs to the study tables. No sign of her there either. Not even in the stacks, though I had to practically run away with a flushed face when I came across a steamy encounter in one of them. 'EW!' Either the couple was acting on their natural mating instincts or one of them was pledging a Frat of sorts... 'again. Eww!'_

_Wiping that odd image from my head, I went back down the stairs to eventually get back outside. She wasn't in Tibbit, perhaps Zhul? Though I don't know why anyone would go to that one, unless they were old-fashioned and like doing 'book'search and calligraphy, but it was worth a shot. 'I wonder if she's at Thropp hall?' Suddenly, I smacked my forehead. 'Guess I-' My thought cut short when I turned and collided with the exact girl I was looking for._

_I took hold of her shoulders and wasted no time in spilling everything about what happened to Kai, but keeping Elsa's outburst under tight wraps lest I make her think I was insane. 'Was I?' Wide blue eyes gaped back at me as I finished in a hurry._

_"I'm sorry, but, w-who are you?" She asked sheepishly. "I didn't get to ask for your name this morning." I held back a frustrated growl. 'Could she be slow to start?' I'd just told her everything that happened and she seemed a little unphased...maybe she didn't know Kai at all?_

_"Anna Michaels." I grumbled in slight defeat. Impulsiveness could be either a good thing or a bad thing in times like this._

_"Oh, alright then, I'm Gerda Frostad." Holding out her hand, I had no choice but to grasp it. 'I already know that!' I gave her a tight smile. " Where's your friend?" She asked looking around my empty sides._

_"Uh- that's kinda exactly why I was hoping you knew Kai on a more personal level-" I relented "anyway, my-" What was Elsa to me? More than a roommate less than a friend? Lover? Fudge! I left it at that. "S-she ran away not too long ago and I'm trying to chase her down because I don't want to abandon her in her hour of need, even if she refuses to see me, I'll find her and I know I will because I think I'm in lo-" 'Whoa! where are you going with that?!'_

_"Kai?! You were talking about Kai?" She thankfully interrupted before my face turned as red as my hair. 'Was I just confessing my feelings to a nearly complete stranger?'_

_"Yes, Kai Andersen, was that not clear?" I asked, confused now. 'I said his name...right...?' Chagrin fell over me when I realized that I hadn't even told her WHO was in the hospital! I'd simply went off, saying Him and He. I felt dizzy all of a sudden.'I'm pretty sure I need sustenance!'_

_"Why didn't you say so? Give me your number." Gerda pretty much dropped her bag and yanked her phone out while I told her my number and just after, she was off, saying she'd let me know what happened if anything. I nodded and once she was out of sight, I immediately flopped on the grass in exhaustion, not beginning to question how she knew him and if the doctor would tell her what he couldn't tell me._

* * *

><p>"Say <em>'ahhh.' <em>dammit, Anna. If you don't eat I _will _force it down your throat." Blue eyes dared me to define her, so define her I should. _Ahhh, dammit, Anna. _I hid the rebellious smirk from her.

"Not hungry." I mumbled, turning away from the spoonful of some weird looking, weird smelling food. Anastaisa had found me on the quad and since I must have looked a little worse for wear, she wasted no time in yanking me to the cafeteria.

"How the hell are you not hungry? I've seen how you eat." Anya quipped, again thrusting the spoon at my lips.

"I'm just not hungry, so could you _not?_ What exactly is that junk anyway?" I asked, wrinking my nose at the- whatever it was- that she'd tried to feed me.

"Lutefisk, of course! I figure since your Scandinavian or something I thought you'd humour me with devouring this." She grinned like a cheshire cat. "The lady said it gives good feelings."

"_That _isn't Lutefisk." I stated like I caught the fish myself. "The lady done lied to you, dear and I refuse to humour you in any way. Especially if you think I'll eat _anything_ you give me. I am no dog." I declared, not missing the stunned look in her blue eyes.

"Holy shit, where the hell did Sweet Anna go?" Despite the mock hurt in her voice, she smirked at me. "Did you get laid? Are you sexually deprived?"

"Does everything have to lead to sex?" I exasperated as the image of the library stacks presented itself in my mind. _ugh..._

"Probably not. Maybe so." She shrugged "Speaking of, how'd you do with the Ice Queen?" '_Speaking of?' Cripes, was I supposed to seduce her or something?_ I avoided her eyes."Or did she go home too?"

_I screwed things up between us. Caused someone other than me to get hurt because of that. We came to an understanding before she bolted. _"She went home." I lied, deciding to let that 'Ice Queen' bit slide just in case I got a little too defensive and made her begin to dig further.

"I'd believe that, oh whimsical one-" She gave me a mischeivious smile and I ignored it by taking a drink of water "if I didn't see her hopping on the bus earlier today."

Whatever liquid made it into my mouth quickly found itself spewing back out as I choked on the remnants. "W-what? Where?! Where was she, what bus did she get on?" I shot to my feet and leaned over the table, most likely frightening the older girl, but the sudden mention of my roommate had my stomach clench in so many different emotions I thought I'd explode. It was then that she _finally_ noticed my arm.

"Hey, what the hell happened to your arm? Your hair? You're wearing the wrong glove on one side-"

"You're _just_ picking these things up?" I practically growled despite myself. _Why doesn't anyone understand my impatience?!_

"I am hungover and my biggest thought when I saw you was that you needed to be fed." She stated but before she could attempt another spoonful to my unwanting mouth I asked again.

"Elsa. Where did Elsa go?" I tried to emphasize the way one would when speaking to a child and not missing the way Anya eyed my arms curiously.

"Like I know? Did you two have a fight or something?" She asked, looking back up at me with a careful eye. I bit my inner cheek. _Is that what that was?_ "How? I've only been gone for, like, a day? I had no idea you two were even friends." _We're not._

"Uh..yeah, we do have some classes together." _And what we established earlier goes further than just friendship. _Choosing to leave that last part out, I now tried to come up with ways to distract my chaperone so I could find Elsa!

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><p>My reflection gaped back at me. My hair indeed held a now thick stripe of white that furthered into my fringe. My eyes looked tired and panicked at the same time and I just plain looked lonely. <em>Wow. I look like this after one day. <em>I shuddered to think of how I'd look in another day, a week perhaps? _No, I need to find her soon. _I feared my heart wouldn't be able to withstand being away from her for that long. At least when she was here, she was _here_ and I didn't have to wonder if she was coming back or not. _And now?_

I sighed, placing Elsa's glove on the sink, loosening the bandage and removing my clothes so I could step into the shower. My original goal had been to search through Elsa's side of the dorm for any kind of clue when we first got back, but with Anya's prodding gaze, not to mention questions that still hadn't been answered, I had no choice other than to seclude myself in the safety of the bathroom. _Maybe when I get back out, she'll be asleep. _Oh, I could only hope.

As the hot water slid down my tense shoulders, I finally allowed my mind to return to the instance of when Elsa had suddenly lashed out. To her ice. Until now, I'd pushed that scene back to the recesses of my mind for fear that I'd freeze up, hurl my guts, something unpredicatble. I had no idea how to react and still didn't. My eyes fell to the gash on my forearm and when I touched it, I was somewhat surprised to find that it felt like Elsa's skin. Somewhat, because it was a silent reminder that she was still with me in a way. Though I felt a tinge of guilt when I realised that _that_ was the general thing that freaked her out.

As selfish as it sounded, Kai didn't really play a part in her departure. It was because she didn't want to hurt _me._ Little ole me. _Why? _With that ice cold eye I'd mentioned, I was able to see that she'd indeed hurt me. Even though I didn't remember that day, I had the feeling that my hair turned out like this because of her. And even now, when I thought of that earlier pressure to my chest just before Kai fell..did she further whatever it was that she'd done before? Did she even do anything before? _I wish I could remember that damned day!_ I growled, pushing my hair back as the water sprayed directly on my face. _Was she pitying me? Feel guilty and forced herself to talk to me? She really did seem jealous when Kai gave me his number. But she kissed me! I kissed her back. I need to find her. How dare she leave me to deal with all of this? 'I don't want to hurt you, Anna.' _Her soft voice sounded and I bit my lip in slight frustration.

_What am I going to do? Elsa._

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><p><span>Elsa.<span>

"...then where did you get _these_?" A chipper voice asked as it pointed one of its stick fingers to the coal on its chest. Elsa tried to reign in her growing irritation at the endless questions the little snowman had to ask.

"Olaf, I don't know, I made you on a whim and I wasn't even aware you'd come to life." Blue eyes wanted to glare at the miniature thing but when she looked at him, she saw so much of her little brother that she suddenly sighed. "Why don't you go find your own nose? I'm sure you're more than capable to." She stood up as they walked down the ice stairs together. "Just don't venture too far."

"Won't you go with me, Elsa? I know it could be fun and staying secluded in that room...don't you feel cold?" _Like he knows what cold is. _Elsa snorted to herself, but paid the question no mind as she looked to the bumbling snowman at her feet.

"I'll tell you what-" She leaned down to pat his snowy back, fondly "If you don't find one today, I'll go with you tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan!" He beamed animatedly "I look forward to it, Mistress- uh Elsa? Mom?"

"Elsa will do." _I already told you that. _Elsa thought and had an inkling that the snowman was inclined to call her _Mom _and why not? She'd made him.

After she was done building her castle, she of course added furniture and had promptly fallen asleep in a blanket of her own snow that she'd piled on her bed, only to be woken up by the then startling creature. He'd asked a million questions and she did her best to answer but all the while she wondered just _how_ he was doing it. A snowman was talking! And he'd asked her what his name was after he asked for hers. The question threw her, like most of his others and she answered with the first name that popped into her head, well, _second._ It would be odd to have named it Anna, right? In a way, his naive optimism reminded her a little of the redhead.

She watched him go, sliding down the rails and immediately rolling down the rest of the way. Elsa brought her hand up to her lips as a light chuckle escaped her at the sight of Olaf doubling in size while he tumbled through the snow.

And then she was alone. Again.

Thoughts of Anna suddenly invaded her mind as she watched Olaf disappear. _You're such an idiot. Leaving her there without so much as an explanation. _Anna had a right to know, _now _that she'd gotten an eyeful of the older girl's curse. _Still, I can't face her now. What if she's afraid of me? Thinks monstrous of me? Actually, she probably thinks of me as nothing but a coward. _She sighed suddenly, pushing a hand through platinum blonde locks. _You are._

_Maybe I should have gone with Olaf. _She retorted to herself before shoving the words of her stubborn consciousness away.

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><p>AN: Sorry I'm not updating regularly...odd circumstances are prohibiting such activities at the moment. Still, Reviews=Happiness!


	10. Start

**Disclaimer: I own Nothing.**

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><p><em>'Can a heart still break once it's stopped beating?' <em>I groaned at the intense turn of the movie, wanting nothing but for Anya to finish it in her own room. _Of course it can-_ the lead of my pencil suddenly broke and when I went to pull out my desk drawer for a sharpener, or better yet, a mechanical pencil, I ended up clumsily swiping my paper off the desk. I watched unamusedly as the paper fluttered through the air and landed meticulously under Elsa's bed. _Oh?_

Glancing at the lazy redhead on my bed and seeing she was completely transfixed in the movie, I nonchalantly slipped from my chair to the floor beside Elsa's bed. _If I were my paper, where would I be? _I thought quick glance at Anya and I promptly pulled Elsa's desk drawer open, surprised to find that it wasn't locked. _Probably forgot in her desperate attempt to flee. _I shook the thought from my head as my stealthy fingers dug further, finding a few brochers of nearby parks- Nature parks- to be exact. Somewhere secluded and where no dogs roamed free. _Of course a wolf is ten times more scary than a trained chihuahua. _I bit my lip to hold back a giggle that wanted to escape. I probably wasn't the best person for this sneaking around business...

My eyes suddenly found the drawing I'd drawn of her. _Right. I didn't get that one back. _Though, the one I did let her have, the one of me, that one wasn't there. I licked my dry lips. _I should be looking harder. But how can I when I don't even know where to start? _Her intense bear eyes stared back at me in disdain and I found myself redrawing it in my brain. Her eyes mainly. The ones on this paper were of her icy orbs in their _cold_ stage because I hadn't known better then. Now if I redrew it, they would have a certain gleam in them. A confidence she wasn't aware of, possessiveness, a deep and longing look. So many things were wrong with the drawing I now held in my hands. _No wonder she kept it. _That's the way she sees herself through others' eyes. _I'm an idiot._

"Hey, I gotta go out for a minute okay, Anna? Apparently Kida has this awesome piece of jewelry she wants me to check out." Anya spared a look in my direction. Either she didn't notice me sitting on Elsa's side of the room, or she didn't care as she gave me a small wave before leaving. I didn't respond but felt grateful that I didn't have to sneak around anymore. _Okay, Mom._

_Now what? Are you going to redraw that or start looking? _I relented the drawing and just about closed the drawer when something else caught my eye. Biting my inner cheek, I brought out the blank notebook that had been buried under everything else. _I-I'm not snooping. Not being nosy. I need a clue! _My blush said otherwise. _This is invasion of privacy! _With shaky fingers, I opened the book, relieved to find it mainly full of notes. _Whew!_ What I had expected to find, I didn't know, but either way, my eyes flew over the words, not registering them until I stopped at a page toward the back.

I knew her major was Architecture and showed as much interest as I could, despite her unwillingness to really talk to me and now I wished I'd pressed a little harder. _Wow. _In my hands I held a sketch of some sort of building with pointed tops- something that belonged in China and as I turned the page, another building appeared, and then another. It left me with my mouth on the floor with how elegantly these sketches were drawn. It was like each building had their own personality! Something I'd never seen before, except in Elsa's clothing. _Oh Elsa. Now, more than ever, I want to know more about you. _I stopped at a particular sketch. One that had been meticulously titled 'Ice Palace' and it was a lot more detailed than the previous ones.

_Ice. Mountains have ice you know. _I tilted my head, glancing at the drawer once more before reaching back in to look over the pamphlets about the mountains around here. _Mountains have snow all year 'round. There's nobody up there either. Well...way up there anyway. _I held the sketch to the most obvious one. _The school is called North Mountain University for a- _I was on my feet and jumping on Elsa's bed in the next instant.

_Eureka! _From there, Elsa had a perfect view of the so-called North Mountain! No wonder she was always looking out there. I felt so happy all of a sudden. _I know where to look now! _

Of course, the big elephant in the room was _how_ I was going to get there. Sure, Anya said she saw Elsa get on the bus, but what bus? Another thing was that I definitely wouldn't be here when Anastasia got back. _I- maybe I can let her know? Yeah, 'don't look for me, gone hiking and I'll be back later?' _It might have worked, had Kristoff been here. I face-palmed. _I need to find her! _It wasn't a matter of want. Of course I wanted to see her, I missed her like crazy and she needed to know that she'd have me no matter what. Come hell or high water- freezing ice? I'd be there for her. I'd deal with her...uniqueness when I got to it. Though at the moment, I was more at awe than cowering in fear about it. _I mean come on! it is a little awesome and winter is my favorite season. _Maybe even more so now. With renewed resolve, I straightened.

_Alright then. Anya. Everyone else..._

I took out my phone, seriously debating on whether to just outright tell Anya that I was going to go look for Elsa and to my sudden horror, the device in my hannd rang. I squealed in surprise and ended up dropping it, nearly tumbling off the bed in a startled stupor. _S-stupid thing! _I silently cursed and quickly answered it with my heart pounding in my ears.

"Y-yeah?" I asked breathlessly, feeling like a moron for freaking out at the last second and just when I thought I had my barrings once more. What I heard next had my mind reeling in even more be-wilderness than before. "Um, who is this?" I asked, dumbly, having not even checked to see who was calling.

"It's Gerda and I said Kai's gone! He just up and vanished!" She sounded quite distressed.

_Kai?_ I shook my head, cursing my sleep deprived brain. "Where'd he go?" I smacked the heel of my hand to my forehead "No, w-wait, don't answer that. How long ago did he go?" _Better?_

"I-I was only gone for a minute! But he was acting strange at the same time so I had to collect myself and then when I came back-" She exhaled a shaky breath and I wondered if she was crying.

I took a deep calming breath. _Alright Mom. I need your help. _I found myself thinking like some sort of character from a fairy tale. My memories were muddled due to my tiredness, but I knew somewhere in them lay the answers. The troll in my dream had acknowledged my mother, saying she'd taught me well and at the moment, I began to believe it. She knew about Elsa- rather what Elsa was capable of, about a lot of things. _Only an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart. _My eyes widened at the memory of the way Kai's chest felt. _A frozen heart._

"Anna?" Gerda asked after a full minute of silence.

"Do you have a vehicle?" I asked suddenly as it dawned on me.

A pause. "Y-yeah?"

"Do you know how to get to North Mountain?"

"I've lived here my whole life. No- I mean I do know where- how to get there."

"Then pack some clothes, take your hiking gear if you have any and meet me at the gate in an hour." I stated, jumping off of Elsa's bed and beginning to gather my own things as hastily as I could before Anya came back.

"Anna, what-"

"I know where Kai's going." I answered quickly, hoping she'd pick up on my urgency. "One hour." I hung up right after. I loved Kristoff for having demanded that I take his old hiking gear in case I ever felt like exploring those mountains. I had no idea I'd be using it so soon and I'm sure he would have been proud of me right before disappointed if he knew the reason why I was doing so.

* * *

><p><span>Elsa.<span>

Elsa stared at Bear Anna. Well the drawing anyway.

She remembered Anna telling her that if there was any face she could potentially mess up, it would have had to have been her own. She also remembered thinking that Anna would have to try a _lot_ harder to mess up that pretty face of hers. _god she was insanely perfect! _And it drove the older of the two a little crazy at first, but when she finally accepted the fact that Anna would be stuck with her for a time, she'd decided to relinquish her jealousy. Jealousy of being so open, so free, so...happy all the time. When they first met, Elsa thought she hated the younger girl just for those optimistic facts but now Elsa understood that it had not been hatred but a heavy dose of attraction and she didn't know how to deal with it. She had never felt that way before so how could she possibly know?

As much as she didn't want to think about it, Elsa recalled how Anna had looked before that white stripe tainted her fiery locks. It was hard for the older not to notice the way the setting sun seemed to light the red so fiercely it looked like fire. She was the very definition of Summer and it pained Elsa to thing that she'd caused the girl nothing but grief. She deserved better. _So much more than me._

Since the day she'd accidentally shot at Anna with a powerful flurry, she kept her distance, but even still, the girl went on as if nothing happened. Elsa had panicked when the other girls ran back out screaming and she so badly wanted to run right alongside them, but she knew she couldn't leave the girl there. Plus, she didn't know what would happen... no, she knew.

Her mother had bore the same curse and Elsa had seen how she'd struggled with it. So, in a way, being totally secluded might have been for the best.

Regardless, she knew Anna wasn't injured, but she wouldn't remember the events of that day. Though, Elsa was surprised to see that her hair had changed colors. Anna was now marked forever. Guilt had fallen over the girl as she then carried the redhead to the infirmary. Luckily, the nurse on duty knew her father and understood. He knew she was..._cursed _and showed nothing but concern for the girl, which only dissipated when he declared she'd be alright.

Good.

Then those confusing feelings only progressed from there as Anna again tried to talk to her once more. Such a warm force to be reckoned with!

"Who's that? Is that my other mother?" Olaf asked in childlike wonder as he peered over an ice covered shoulder, making the blue-eyed girl lose her train of thought and sputter uncharacteristically.

"Mother- N-no, Olaf this is-" She exhaled, relenting the memories and laying the drawing on the desk in front of her. "No one." _That's low even for you and you know it._

"I think she's pretty, even for a bear." He giggled adorably, having still not found a nose but content all the same without it. She had accompanied him like she said she would but all they succeeded in finding was more sticks. Elsa had wondered if there was a place nearby that sold carrots, but the thought quickly dispersed when the little snowman had began asking her for a pet of sorts. Of course she refused and Olaf had immediately asked if she could make him a twin if not a pet. She still refused, mainly because she feared that he'd make off with his new playmate and leave her to her thoughts.

Elsa enjoyed his company.

"She's not actually a bear." Elsa grinned at him, loving the way his mood seemed to lighten her own whenever he was around. He was too adorable for his own good and Elsa wondered how she could have create something so full of happiness when she herself was nearly wallowing in self-depreciation. _The irony of it all!_

"So she _is _someone." The snowman declared in awe. "Will I meet her someday?" He couldn't hide the excitement in his voice. If anything, he was asking on his...mother's behalf. He understood that he could only distract her so much, but when she spoke of whoever that was on the drawing, she looked calmer, but anxious all the same. It wasn't fun to be alone and Olaf feared that if Elsa stayed alone, she'd feel _cold. _He wanted her to feel warm.

_No. If she's smart, she'll stay away. _"I'm not sure." Was her answer instead. If Anna was who Elsa thought she was, she'd forever remember the blonde, but would most likely move on and forget the events that proceeded that awful day.

Before Olaf could ask another question, Elsa's ears picked up the sound of the door sliding open downstairs. She shot out of her chair and with the snowman tailing behind her, she sauntered to the balcony that overlooked the entrance. "Go no further. You aren't welcomed here." She growled but stopped dead in her tracks as the dark-haired person, who had been gazing at the high ceilings, turned to face her.

"...Kai?" Elsa didn't believe her eyes.

* * *

><p>"Care to explain <em>why <em>we're sneaking off like we just stole something?" Gerda asked when I practically hurled myself in the front seat, just barely dodging the possibility of being seen by Anya as she walked with her friend Kida.

"Because I'm underage and would be locked in my room if _that_ woman saw me basically running away too." I gestured to the pair, missing Gerda's own eyes widening.

"You're running away? Great, now _I'm _responsible for helping a minor run away."She scoffed "should we rob a store for the fun of it then?"

"Only if there's chocolate." I joked, motioning for her to step on the gas lest Anya spot us.

"Funny. Now _why_ are we heading to North Mountain? Are you okay with ditching classes? What's going through your head?!"

_Elsa. The taste of her lips. Her frosty scent. _"Nothing. I just know where he's going is all." _Went? _Gerda pulled on to the highway and we made a beeline right to the road that would eventually lead us to the base of the mountain.

"You're pretty confident aren't you?"

_I'm tired! _"I hope so." I muttered, unfolding the two pieces of paper, so I could distract myself until we got there.

When that proved useless, I turned to the woman driver. She really was pretty, though, like me, she didn't look like she'd slept the night before. There were slight bags under her pretty blue eyes, her hair was a little out of sorts and she just looked tired. "How do you know Kai?" I blurted, ruining the silence, but she didn't seemed phased.

"We grew up together but I moved here before we went to high school." She settled a bit in her seat, no doubt ready to get out and stretch so she didn't fall asleep with road hypnotism. "It's been four years since I last saw him so I wasn't surprised that he'd forgotten all about me."

"Didn't you stay in touch?" I asked. _Is it my place to ask such personal things? _They say that curiosity killed the cat so was I on my way there?

"Obviously I tried, but he just plain stopped talking to me. I hadn't even known that he decided to go to school here until I interviewed him for the job at Vanillope's." Gerda stated, on the brink of sadness but mainly disdain. _That has to sting. He didn't even recognize her! _As far as I was concerned the name Gerda was an unforgettable one, as was Kai, but still!

"I see." Was all I could manage. Maybe he did know, but didn't know how to approach her? _No. If he did then he wouldn't have given you his number right in front of her._ I felt sick all of a sudden.

"How do you know him?" It was her turn to ask as she passed a slow car.

"I don't really know him." I admitted "We had dinner once- n-not in the 'date' sense, but we ate together and he walked me back to Thropp afterward."

"You live at Thropp? I heard the girls there have chaperon's and are supposedly of the high-collar state." She mused, taking a side-long glace at me. _Heh, a__bout that..._

"They do. I do, but she had a rare day off so I decided to steal away and bring my roomie along since she didn't really leave those dorms unless she had classes." _I'm not rich. _Though I decided to skip over that part.

"So since you were with her most of the time, how did you find out about Kai?" Gerda asked after a moment's hesitation. I stiffened unconsciously rubbing Elsa's glove that I'd placed on the correct arm. It was long enough to have covered my injury too so I didn't have to explain that one right away either.

All the same, I had a feeling she wanted to directly ask about what had really happened and I wondered if I might as well just tell her so when we eventually found him, she wouldn't be so freaked out about Elsa and her... Oh well, her _powers._

But could I tell her about Elsa?

* * *

><p><em>AN: When I ran this story line by some friends...they seemed disinterested, but if you all like it then *thumbs up* I like it too XD Also, shout out to whoever recognized Zhul library ^^ I used to attend NMSU as well! GO A-G-G-I-E-S! *guns!* (it's also awesome to know that someone so close to home is reading one of my stories) Tootles~_


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